Privilege
by Monet00
Summary: Emily comes from a life of wealth and privilege. Her family moves her to Rosewood to help get her back on track and there she meets a group of girls who will change her outlook on life and choices.
1. Privilege

Great! My parents are just brilliant people. I can't believe they expect me to just pack up my life and move in the middle of my junior year. Worst of all, we're not even moving to a major city, it's some town called Rosewood in the middle of Pennsylvania. This has got to be the worst time of my life, well maybe it comes in second to the time I spent in rehab, but whatever, it still sucks. This is their half-assed attempt at "getting me back on track" or whatever the hell they call it. This car ride is taking forever! Why couldn't we just take a plane? Ugh and my mom keeps asking me questions and looking back at me. I see my dad smiling in the rearview mirror so I glare back at him. I could really use some music right about now, but my phone is dead and they're using the charger for directions. Really? I mean come on people, if you wanted to move here, you should've known the way already. I attempt to drift off into sleep, but my mother's annoying voice is constantly echoing throughout the car and I'm too lazy to tell her to shut up. Finally after what seems like hours we pull into this fake ass movie town and pass through endless streets. I wonder how many people live here. Why does my mom have to like small towns? Doesn't she know people will talk, and I thought this was a fresh start? They even took away my Ferrari! I couldn't believe it when I had to say goodbye to my baby, but they said they don't want to attract any unwanted attention or whatever that means. People are going to find out who we are sooner or later and I'd much rather have the comfort of my car when they do. I'll just have to call my grandpa to buy me a new car.

"We're here honey," I hear my mom say and I scoff at her happiness. I am not happy.

"Whatever," I say.

"Come on Emmy, you should be excited," my dad says getting out the car.

"Excited about what? Uprooting my life and being shipped off to the middle of nowhere? Having my Ferrari taken away?" I complain and see four girls walking with purses and books. One is a tall brunette who dresses preppy, another brunette who's the smallest that pulled off a rock/artsy look, a blonde with blue or grey eyes and cherry red lips, and another blonde who's curls were perfect and her eyes looked like the ocean. She was beautiful, like she came from a catalog. But I returned to my anger.

"Stop being so dramatic," my dad says and I scoff again for the second time.

"This is bullshit," I yell and throw up my hands and I see the girls out the corner of my eye, their stares on me.

"Hey, watch the language young lady," my dad scolds.

"Whatever," I say and push past him going inside the house. I turn back around once I reach the door and see the girls enter in a house across the street from mine. I go up to a room that looks similar to mine and I realize my dad had the movers set it up. I just know I'm going to hate it here. I already miss my girlfriend and all my friends from back home. A couple hours of sitting in my room had my mother sending a search party.

"Emily come down here now!" she yells and I roll my eyes and head downstairs.

"What do you want mother?" I ask.

"I noticed those girls across the street, I was thinking that you should go say hi," she says with a smile.

"How about no," I frown.

"Here I baked a pie, go and say hi," she says and leaves no room for discussion.

"Okay after I take a shower and get dressed. Can I drive around to see what the town is like?" I ask.

"Sure," she relents knowing that's the only way. I go back upstairs and put my phone on the charger. I take a nice hot shower to rinse and help melt the tension. After that I brush my teeth and go through my closet. I settle on that Givenchy shirt I picked up in Paris a couple months ago and black true religion pants that fit loosely on me. I put on my new Gamma 11s sneakers and a fitted hat. I let my hair be wavy for today because I didn't have the energy to straighten it. I walk down the stairs and I am stopped by my dad.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"To say hello to neighbors, then out for a drive," I say and he nods. "Can I take the Porsche?"

"Yeah that's fine," he says and I let out a sigh of relief because I really don't like my mom's Mercedes, and he hands me the keys.

"I'll be back by 12," I say and went to grab the pie off the counter.

"Don't you have school tomorrow?" he asks.

"Yeah, and?" I ask and he shakes his head and I walk out. The walk towards the house is over fairly quickly and next thing I know I'm pressing the door bell. The blonde with cherry red lips answers the door.

"Hi," she says with a smile.

"Hi, this is for you from my mom," I say lamely.

"Oh thanks, my name's Hanna," she says and accepts the pie.

"Cool, mine is Emily," I say awkwardly.

"Do you want to come in?" she asks and I was about to turn her down when I saw her puppy eyes.

"Sure," I relent and we walk down the foyer into the kitchen. The house is pretty nice.

"These are my friends, Spencer, Aria, and Alison," she says placing the pie on the counter. "Guys this is Emily, she's my new neighbor". She says.

"Hi," they all say.

"Hey," I say and try to think of a way out.

"So where are you from?" Hanna asks.

"New York," I answer back.

"Oh cool, which part?" Hanna asks with interest.

"Manhattan," I reply.

"That must've been nice," Aria says and I nod.

"Why did you move," Alison asks and I cough.

"My mom likes small towns," I say vaguely.

"Do you play any sports?" Spencer asks.

"I swim occasionally but not competitively. Do you?" I ask.

"Yeah I play field hockey," she answers proudly.

"Nice contact sport," I comment.

"So are you gay?" Alison asks and I see the other girls glare.

"Ali!" they say in unison and I laugh.

"Yeah I am, is that a weird thing here?" I ask.

"Hmm not really," Alison replies.

"Too bad, I was looking for a way out of this place," I say sarcastically.

"It's not too bad," Aria says.

"What do you guys do for fun here?" I ask.

"Sleepovers, go to the mall, movies, sometimes we go to Philly to hang out," Hanna answers and I nod. "What did you do for fun?"

"Hmm lots of things. Shop, swim, go to clubs," I answer.

"What do you do with your summers?" Alison asks.

"Well I used to go to my houses out in France or LA," I answer and Hanna spits out her drink.

"You have houses in LA and France," she asks in shock. I guess, but that was normal back in New York.

"Yeah, my family owns a bunch of property in other places too," I say nonchalantly. My phone starts to ring and I answer it.

"Emily!" I hear a familiar voice on the other end.

"Yes grandfather," I say sweetly.

"How do you like your new place?" he asks.

"I hate it here, but it's whatever. I made some new friends," I say looking to them.

"Oh really? How about you come visit me next weekend?" he asks.

"Of course! Just make sure dad doesn't complain, I can't stand his whining," I say and we both laugh.

"You know I will. Actually there's this event going on and I wanted you to come to get your more involved in the business," he says.

"Speaking of getting more involved, I reviewed that deal that we just made," I say.

"Which one?" he asks.

"The one with Marx Pharmecuticals, it was crappy, we could've gotten more shares for less," I say and accept a drink from Hanna.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yeah, but let's talk about that next weekend. I'm on my way to Philly to visit Joanna," I say.

"Okay, and bring your friends next weekend," he says.

"Grandfather! I can't just invite them, we just met," I groan.

"Do it!" he demands and I roll my eyes.

"Whatever you say master," I say sarcastically before hanging up.

"So you're family is into business," Alison says.

"Yeah," I say. "What are you guys doing this weekend?" I ask.

"Nothing, we usually just have a sleepover," Spencer says.

"Would you like to come with me to the Hamptons, it was my grandfather's idea to invite you guys since there's a gala going on this weekend," I say hoping they will agree, my grandfather does not like to be disappointed.

"Hamptons?" Hanna says in shock. "Just how rich are you?" she asks and I laugh.

"Yeah, we'd just have to ask our parents, but it should be fine," Alison speaks for them.

"Good, here let's exchange numbers," I say and we all put out phones. "Okay, I have to go," I say.

"Got a hot date?" Hanna asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Wouldn't you like to know," I say mysteriously before slipping out and going to my dad's car. I take off for Philly. On the drive there I thought about how nice their clique was. Everyone seemed really cool. I pulled up to a restaurant that I frequent when I'm in Philly.

"Fields for two, I made reservations for 6," I say to the host. He takes me over to my regular table and I see my beautiful girlfriend waiting.

"You look absolutely beautiful," I say pecking her on the lips and then sit down. I look at her and she's in a skintight red dress, her blonde hair is slightly wavy and her eyes, I get lost in them.

"You look sexy as always," she answers back. "I ordered your usual".

"Thanks, sorry for being late, my mom forced me to be social with my neighbor," I say.

"It's okay, how was it?" she asks.

"Not half bad, I think I made a few friends," I say and she nods. The conversation is light throughout dinner and I walk with her hand in mine back to my car.

"Can you stay the night?" I ask but already knew the answer.

"Of course," she says and I open the door for her. We drive back towards Rosewood and pull up outside my house at 8:30. Surprisingly I'm home early. It's still light outside and I go to open her door. I kiss her softly and push her up against the car door. I love the feeling of her curves in my hands. I'm hoping my parents are out and I look for my mom's car to see it's gone thankfully. Once we pull apart I see movement in the corner of my eye. I turn towards Hanna's house and see the girls exiting. They waive in my direction and I waive back and feel Joanna's hand wrap around my waist and pull me into the house. She squeezes my ass too, I guess to mark her territory, but I'm not complaining. We made love and are now wrapped in blankets with her backside against my front.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask.

"Us, our future," she says.

"What about it?" I ask.

"I'm thinking about how hard it's going to be to see each other since I'm in New York," she says.

"And?" I ask.

"Do you think we should take a break or have an open relationship?" she asks and the wind is knocked out of me. I've been with this girl since we we're 10, we've known each other since birth.

"What?" I ask and slightly raise my voice. "Why do you want a break? Do you want to see other people?"

"I just think that you will have a lot of temptation here, especially with me not being around and I don't want to always wonder about you," she says and I can't believe what I'm hearing.

"That's bullshit. You know you're the only girl for me, why are you trying to do this?" I ask getting frustrated.

"We can be together once we're in college together, but right now it seems like we're drifting apart," she says. "You've changed a lot".

"How have I changed?" I ask.

"Oh I don't know Ms. Rehab," she says and I feel a sting in my heart.

"That's a low blow," I say.

"No it's not, you were out partying every night ever since you were introduced to that crowd," she says.

"Hopefully we both change for the better and find our way back to each other," she says.

"Whatever," I say completely done with this conversation. I get and put on my boxer and sports bra. "I'm sleeping in the guest room". I'm too pissed off to sleep, but I'm too tired to stay awake. I just stare at the ceiling until my eyes become heavy and the darkness takes over. The next morning I wake up to the smell of eggs and bacon. I walk downstairs half naked since I've always been comfortable with my body. I hear voices in the kitchen and I walk towards it thinking it's just my parents and Joanna, but I was sorely mistaken. Instead I see Hanna, Aria, Spencer and Alison talking to my mom.

"Morning mom," I say refusing to go upstairs in the room where Joanna is sleeping to get clothes.

"Morning sweetie. For God sakes put on some clothes," she says loudly and I hear Hanna laugh.

"I'm good mom, Joanna is upstairs," I say and I know she doesn't know about the break up or break or whatever the hell she calls it. I move to get coffee and stack my plate.

"What's she doing here?" my mom asks and I gave her a knowing look and she threw up her hands. "Not even one day," she says and I scoff.

"Stop! I wasn't going to kick her out," I said and Joanna coming downstairs dressed in one of my shirts and shorts interrupts our conversation.

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask trying to change the subject.

"We just wanted to stop by to see if you were busy," Hanna replies and I nod taking a sip of my coffee.

"Hi Mrs. Fields, hey Em," she says leaning in to kiss me, but she didn't expect me to turn my head. "Really?" she asks.

"What do you want from me?" I ask.

"For you not to be a douche," she whispers and I roll my eyes.

"Funny, you just get everything you want, and I never get a choice," I say.

"Mom, I'm sure you can take Joanna home," I say trying to pawn her off on my mom.

"Nonsense Emily! I am not being a chauffer to your girlfriend. You can take her back to New York," she says and I scoff.

"Can't you just do this one thing for me. Damn that's all I ask. No one ever asks me my opinion," I snap.

"Stop being so dramatic, we have company," she says.

"Oh it's all about appearances," I say sarcastically.

"Stop it," Joanna says.

"Oh that might've worked when you were fucking me, but it's not going to work anymore," I spit out with venom and I regret it once I see the look on her face. "Whatever, go get dressed, I'm taking you home," I say firmly and I see she blinks back the tears and goes upstairs.

"Was that really necessary to embarrass her?" my mom asks.

"Stay out of my business," I say.

"You are my business," she says and I chuckle.

"I know you don't want to go there Pam," I say and hurt flashes across her face.

"Whoa, calm down Emmy," my dad says and the nickname calms me.

"Sorry mom, I'm just angry," I say and take another sip.

"Why? I thought you'd be glowing," my dad jokes and I chuckle.

"I would be if she didn't break up with me right after. Whatever it's not like I wasted 7 years of my life on one girl," I say and roll my eyes and get an idea. "Dad you're a genius".

"What am I taking credit for this time," he asks.

"After I drop her off in NY, I'm going to hang around there. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon," I say and kiss him on his cheek.

"No drugs," he says firmly.

"Of course papa, you're the best," I say and hold out my hand and he sighs handing me over a couple hundreds and putting his wallet back in his pocket. I clear my throat and give him a look and he sucks his teeth pulling out his wallet and handing over two credit cards.

"Be careful with those," he says and I nod.

"No strippers, no drugs, no cars, no planes, no stores, yeah, yeah," I say and he looks serious.

"I'm serious Emmy," he says.

"Fine okay, but are you sure about the strippers?" I ask playfully. "You guys want to come?" I look to the girls and they nod.

"No strippers, you often become too generous with my money when it comes to them," we both laugh until we see my mom's face it's stone serious.

"You think that's funny Wayne? You know what happened last time," my mom says and my dad clears his throat and attempts to become serious.

"Come on mom, get your panties out of a bunch and live a little," I say sarcastically and pat her shoulder.

"I swear Emily Catherine Fields, if I get the idea that you're doing drugs again or buying strippers, I will ship you off to rehab," she says and I shrink under her gaze.

"Wouldn't be the first time Pam," I say fiercely. "Whatever, I'm done with this conversation". I say going up the stairs, but not before I hear my mom talking to my dad.

"You see the disrespect? Why is she acting like this. She's changed, we should've moved a long time ago," my mom says and I roll my eyes at that entire conversation. I guess you can see that I'm not really close with my mom, but there's a reason for that. I walk upstairs and go to my room to get clothes and I see Joanna naked. The sight of her still makes me weak, but I'm still angry. She begins to walk over to me and kisses me.

"What are you doing?" I ask pushing her off me.

"What does it look like?" she says.

"Yeah well you're not my girlfriend," I say.

"Doesn't mean we don't want each other," she says.

"Well I don't want you," I say and I know it's completetly untrue.

"Oh yeah? Your mouth says one thing, but this says another," she say and reaches inside my boxers and I gasp at her touch. I know at that point I'm completely gone, she's always had that effect on me. Once we're done, I walk to take a shower. After the shower I return downstairs to see the girls with their bags and Joanna comes up behind me and squeezes my ass. At a time before last night I would've smiled, but now I just look emotionless.

"Alright lets go," I say and my dad throws me the keys to the Porsche truck.

"Have fun girls," he says and we walk out. The drive to New York was uneventful. Joanna said nothing to the girls and the girls said nothing back. I was stuck in my head so I wasn't helpful. Once I pulled up to her apartment in the Upper East Side she smiled.

"I love you," she says and I'm left confused at the whole situation, so I do what I do best.

"I love you too," I say but it has less meaning, it almost tastes bitter once it leaves my tongue. She smiles at my response and kisses me on the lips. She looks back to the girls but says nothing and I chuckle and know why she did what she did. She's threatened, by one in particular and I knew she was just playing with my emotions, so I'm going to play with hers.

"Hey Alison, come sit up front," I say once Joanna is exiting and I see her freeze at my choice, but continues to exit. Once Alison is situated up in the front I take off for my grandfather's apartment on Park Avenue.

"Where are we going?" Alison asks.

"To my grandfather's apartment," I say and the rest of the ride is silent. Once I pull up outside a valet boy comes to put my car in the garage. I nod to Harry the desk clerk since I practically grew up here.

"How are you Ms. Fields," he asks.

"Don't call me that! I'm just Emily to you," I say with a smirk.

"This place is nice," Hanna remarks.

"Yeah, I love it here," I say with a smile while we enter the elevator. I see the wheels turning in Spencer's head and I know she has a question.

"Spit it out Spencer," I say.

"Nothing, it's just that you're grandfather lives on Park Avenue," she says and the other girls look confused and I chuckle.

"What does the name of the street have to do with anything?" Hanna asks and Spencer scoffs.

"I thought you were obsessed with New York Han, this is like the richest part of the boroughs, only the elite live here," she answers back and they all look on in amazement. Thankfully the bell indicates that we're on the top floor where his penthouse is. I open the door and let them in.

"God this place is amazing Emily!" Hanna looks on in amazement. Aria goes to look at the view and gasps.

"It's so beautiful," she says and Hanna joins her and pretty soon all of them are looking at the busy streets of New York. I miss this place so much. I walk around the apartment getting reacquainted with things.

"Are you guys hungry?" I ask.

"Yes!" Spencer says and her stomach growls and we all laugh.

"Barry," I yell and a man dressed in a suit comes out.

"Yes Ms. Emily," he says in a British accent.

"Uh, could you make something for the girls, and tell the staff to prepare the rooms," I ask politely.

"Of course ma'am, right away," he says and takes off to follow orders.

"Who's he?" Hanna asks the obvious.

"Our butler," I say.


	2. Spark

"Thanks Barry," I say once he sets our plates down.

"Of course ma'am," he says and I waive for him to take off. I was about to cut into my steak when a turn of the key stops me. Who could that be? My grandfather is in the Hamptons, and my parents are back home. My question is answered when I see a familiar set of green eyes, my assistant Tyler.

"Oh I'm so glad I caught you," he says out of breath as if he ran the stairs.

"What's up?" I ask.

"I need you to sign a bunch of documents," he says laying a stack of papers on the table.

"Can't I do it after lunch?" I ask.

"No I need to have it in by 3 today," he says.

"What is it?" I ask.

"It's about your trust fund and your grandfather's will," he says and I nod pushing my plate away. I get up to grab the bottle of whiskey my grandfather loves so much and pour it into a glass.

"I need my glasses," I say and he rushes to get me my reading glasses. I see the girls have stopped eating and are looking intently at me.

"Guys keep eating, it's fine," I say. Once he returns with my glasses I open the file. I skim through it and it basically says that I receive only a quarter of my trust fund at 18 upon my parents' request.

"What the hell!" I yell loudly.

"What's wrong?" Tyler asks nervously.

"My parents changed the rules. I only get a quarter of my trust fund at 18," I frown.

"That's still a lot of money," he says looking at the amount.

"That's not the point. The point is that my parents took it in their hands to prevent me from getting the full amount. Assholes," I say and roll my eyes.

"Do you want to appeal it?" he asks.

"No, it's no point," I say and relent and sign the damn paper. I look at my grandfather's will and it now says that the company will go solely to me, and I get most of his estates, of course he gives some to my brother Ezra, thankfully. I don't want him to feel left out especially since he was adopted when he was 16. He's now off at some liberal arts college studying English, which my grandfather disapproves.

"At least my grandfather has common sense," I say with a smirk.

"What does it say?" Tyler asks.

"He finally decided to give Ezra some of his property estates, but everything else is pretty much the same. I get full control of the company, the rest of his estates and some minor things," I say and sign the paper.

"How is Ezra?" he asks.

"I have no idea, last time I checked he was hanging out in grandfather's house in Australia. You know how much he loves it there," I respond. "Here you go," I hand those documents back to Tyler and I see him eyeing my food and I roll my eyes. "Take it loser". He happily accepts and grabs my plate. My parents meddling ruined my appetite and I downed the drink. I see the girls were almost done.

"You guys want to go shopping afterwards?" I ask and they nod viciously.

"We don't have any money," Spencer stated.

"No shit, this was spur of the moment. It's my treat anyways," I say and get another glass of scotch.

"You might want to slow down Em," Tyler says with his mouth full.

"And might want to chew with you mouth closed, I hear you can die that way," I say giving him a glare that shut him up and he returned back to his food. I hear a key in the door and I look towards it.

"Now who could that be?" I ask. I see my big brother walk through the door in his usual black shirt and jeans and beanie. He comes in with a lot of bags.

"Ezra!" I yell and go to hug him.

"Em! What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I had to get away," I said and he nodded understanding, he always understands me. "Ezra meet my friends, Alison, Spencer, Hanna, Aria. Guys meet my brother Ezra," I say and he shakes their hands, his staying a bit longer on Aria's.

"Has my sister driven you crazy yet?" he asks and I punch his arm.

"Hey I'm the best host ever," I say and he scoffs. "Did you sign grandfather's will?" I ask and he nods.

"Yeah I'm pretty surprised he gave me anything," he said taking off his hat.

"You know he loves you, he just doesn't agree with your choices," I try to explain and he waives me off.

"Yeah, whatever, make excuses," he says.

"Well mom and dad are trying to cut me off," I say and he coughs on his drink.

"What?" he asks loudly.

"Not exactly, they just cut my trust fund down to a quarter when I turn 18," I say honestly.

"Well good. Even that's too much," he says and I scoff.

"Of course you take their sides," I say.

"I'm not taking their sides, but what are you going to do with 100 at 18 years old?" he asks and I shrug my shoulders. "Nothing good can come from all that money".

"Your trust fund is 100 thousand dollars?" Hanna asks with wide eyes.

"No, it's 100 million," Ezra answers thinking that they knew how much we were worth already since I invited them home, but I hadn't exactly told them how rich we were or where our money came from.

"100 million?" they all ask in unison.

"Yeah," I say and nod. "Come on let's go shopping. Ezra do you want to join us?"

"Of course not," he says and I laugh.

"Want to come with us tonight, we're going out to the club," I say.

"Hmmm yeah, I need to keep an eye on my little sister he says and rubs my head," and we both laugh before the girls and I exit. Once we're outside a driver pulls up and we get in.

"Take us to the usual," I say and the driver nods before taking off. After three hours of shopping, we walk back into the penthouse with dozens of bags. Hanna and Alison shopped the most of course; they do have impeccable taste I have to admit. I picked up a few shirts and hats.

"That was so much fun," Hanna smiled.

"Of course it was," Spencer grumbled as she massaged her arms. Most of the bags in her arms belonged to Hanna, and I wonder if there was something going on between them, they bicker like an old couple.

"I'm going to take a shower and sleep," I said and Barry showed them to their separate rooms. I slept for a good hour and a half. I walked out of the room to see the girls and Ezra in the living room.

"Hey guys," I said sleepily.

"Hey," they respond.

"How was your sleep monkey?" he asked and I scrunch my face at the nickname.

"It was good toad," I said and he tried to make a comeback but nothing came.

"You guys hungry?" I ask.

"We actually ate an hour ago with Ezra," Aria said and I smiled.

"Barry," I called.

"Yes ma'am?" he asked.

"Could you make me a lobster and mashed potatoes?" I asked.

"Right away," he said taking off for the kitchen and I sit back on the couch next to Alison and take over the remote. I turn on MTV hits and on comes Iggy Azalea's Fancy. Great! I really do hate that song since it plays so much, so Ezra starts to sing along to it. He usually does that to annoy me. I throw a pillow at his head and he chuckles. I see him sitting close to Aria.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" I ask Alison in her ear.

"Yeah, I'm having fun" she says and smiles. I look into her eyes and they're unlike any that I've ever seen.

"You have really beautiful eyes," I comment and I see her blush.

"Thank you," she says and I nod. I see her hand on her lap and I grab it and put it on mine. I start to trace it with my fingers and I see her close her eyes. Soon I cover her hand with mine and put my fingers in between hers. I look up in her eyes to see if she's okay with this and she smiles and I decide to kiss her on the cheek while everyone else is lost in their own conversation. Soon Barry comes out of the kitchen with a plate. He hands it to me with a towel since it's hot.

"Thank you Barry," I say.

"Of course ma'am," he says and walks away. I decide to take it to the dinning room table and pour myself a glass of scotch.

"Want to join me?" I ask Ali before moving and she nods. I pull out her chair and continue what I'm doing when she's sitting at the table. I return to my place.

"So tell me more about yourself," I say.

"What do you want to know?" she asks.

"Do you have a brother?" I ask.

"Yeah, an older one, maybe the same age as yours," she says and I nod.

"What do you like to do for fun?" I ask.

"Shop and read," she says.

"Please don't tell me you're an English major," I say with a laugh.

"Of course not, maybe a minor," she says and I nod.

"So what do you want to do," I ask and she shrugs.

" I really have no idea, I was thinking about business but I'm not sure," she says.

"Well no worries you have much time to figure it out," I reassure her.

"What about you? Tell me more about you," she says.

"Not much to tell," I say.

"Bullshit," she calls and I laugh.

"How come you and Ezra don't look alike?" she asks.

"He's adopted," I say and she nods.

"What do you want to major in?" she asks.

"Business," I say even though I don't have much choice.

"Of course," she says and we both smile. I look at my watch and see that it's almost 9.

"Let's go get dressed," I say and I get up and drink the rest of the Whiskey and go to my room while she tells the other girls to go get ready. By 10 we're all ready to leave. I'm wearing a black button up shirt, black ripped jeans and black combat boots. Alison is wearing a black crop top with black high waist jeans and red pumps. Spencer is wearing a nice white dress that shows her long legs, Hanna is wearing a blue halter dress that brings out her eyes, and Aria is wearing a black dress that has her back out. Of course Ezra is wearing a button up shirt and his favorite black vest that my mother's tried to throw away hundreds of times and black jeans.

"You guys all look amazing," I say and all the girls blush. We arrive at the club 20 minutes later.

"They're with me," I say and the bouncer lets us in with a nod. The owner Toby comes up to me.

"I have a VIP section waiting for you," he says shaking my hand and patting me on my back.

"Thanks bro," I say.

"Who's the DJ?" I ask.

"Caleb," he responds and I smile. It's always been Caleb, Toby and I since we were babies, then Ezra was thrown into the mix and we've been tight ever since. He walks us over to the VIP section that has champagne waiting.

"Guys this is the owner and my best friend Toby. Toby meet my friends Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Alison," I say and he shakes all their hands.

"Any friend of Emily's is a friend of mine," he says before walking off.

"Get comfortable," I yell to the girls to sit down. I pull out glasses for them and hand them off. "You guys drink right?" I ask and they nod. I really don't want to be a bad influence on them or pressure them into fitting into the "fast pace life". "To new friends," we clink out glasses and down the drink. I take another one before my brother stops me.

"Relax Em," he says and I nod and get up. I roll up my sleeves and walk towards the DJ booth.

"Caleb!" I yell and he takes off his headphones and hugs me.

"Em!" he yells back happily.

"I miss you bro," I say.

"I miss you too," he says before grabbing the microphone. He interrupts the music. "Guys we have a special guest in here tonight," and the entire audience looks towards them, "We got Emily Fields y'all" he says and the crowd goes wild. He hands me the microphone and I feel the beat is about to drop.

"Let's go jump in three, two, one," I count off and the beat drops and I find myself jumping to it and the crowd screams.

"Here take over, I see this cutie in the VIP area," he says.

"Those are my friends," I yell.

"Who's the blonde?" he asks and I get jealous thinking he's talking about Alison.

"Which one?" I ask.

"The one in the blue dress," he says and I let out a sigh.

"That's Hanna," I say. "Come on let me introduce you guys". We walk back over. I pull out a glass of champagne for him. "Guys this is my friend Caleb, Caleb these are my friends Spencer, Aria, Alison and Hanna," I say and he takes Hanna's hand and kisses it. I chuckle at his obviousness and I see Hanna blush. I leave them alone and grab Alison's hand and pull her towards the DJ booth. I put on the headphones and start spinning.

"Do you know how to DJ?" I ask already knowing the answer.

"No," she says and I motion my hand to tell her to come here.

"I'll show you," I say and put her in front. I put the headphones on her ears removing on and I place her hands on the disk with mine covering hers. We scratch it a few times before switching songs. I kiss her on the cheek and she leans in towards it. I put my hand on the opposite cheek and push her lips toward mine. Once they connect I feel a spark. I lean in further to deepen it and she accepts. I take the headphones off of her and lead her to a back room that no one else knows about. I push her against the wall and continue the kissing. Our lips are moving in sync like we've done this before. Soon my hands are tracing her curves and touching the exposed skin of her stomach. My lips move towards her neck and I can hear her moaning. My hands go towards her pants and I begin to unzip them before I feel her hands on mine telling me to stop. I break away and look into her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask breathless.

"It's just that…" she trails off.

"You've never done this before with a girl" I finish for her and she nods and I sigh. "I'm sorry, I got carried away".

"It's fine, I'm not complaining," she says. I take her hand and lead her back to the VIP area where I see Spencer making out with Toby, Aria and Ezra in deep conversation and Hanna on Caleb's lap. I'm glad to see they've found someone to enjoy their time with.

"Are you guys ready?" I ask and receive glares from Caleb and Toby. "Alison and I are going to go back to the apartment. Ezra will call for the driver when you're all ready," I say and they nod. With Alison's hand still in mine I lead her out of the club and tell the driver to take us home. The tension is so thick I just want to jump her bones right now. We pull up outside of the building and I lend her my hand to help her out of the car. The elevator ride up was filled with silence. The elevator dings signaling that it's our exit. I open the door and see it's completely dark and I know that Barry has retired to his room. I close the door and take her face in my hands. I kiss her passionately and she responds. I pick her up by her thighs and wrap her legs around my waist. I lead us to my room and kick the door with my foot. My hands trace her back and I place her on the bed. I stand up to remove my shirt and pants while she does the same. Soon she's left in red lace lingerie and I have on black boxers and a sports bra. She looks self conscious and uncertain about what to do next so I lean forward to kiss her. I push her to start backing up towards my pillows while I crawl in between her legs. Once she lies down I put my full weight on my hands that are helping me to hover over her. I sink down onto her and my hands travel to her back to unclasp her bra. I let my hands ghost over her arms as I take it off slowly. I lean back in to kiss her neck and I move slowly down to her breasts, bringing a nipple into my mouth. I flick it and I hear a gasp escape her lips and I move south. My tongue dips into her belly button and I nip her hips. I look back up to her and seek confirmation. She nods and I place my index fingers in the waistband of her panties. I pull them down slowly, drinking in the sight of her. I pull them off and throw it across the room. I climb off the bed and take off my bra and lower my boxers to the ground. I pull at the covers and she gets under them and I follow. I climb back in between her legs. I lift up and look down at her full body.

"You're absolutely beautiful," I say before kissing her. I grind into her and I she sucks in a breath. "Are you sure?" I ask for the last time.

"Yes," she says breathily and I kiss my way down to her center. I bite her inner thigh and work my way towards her folds. I move my index finger separating them before replacing it with my mouth. I lick on each side and suck her clit before blowing on it, knowing the reaction I'd get. I felt her shiver underneath me and I smiled before moving my tongue down. I lifted her hips to give me a better angle. I entered her unexpectedly with my tongue.

"Oh my God," I heard her whisper. I continue pushing my tongue in and out of her center and I felt her getting close so I stopped completely and I head her groan. I made my way back up to her and kissed her. I knew she could taste herself and it made the whole act sexier. I let my hand trail down to her most sensitive area and it found her entrance rather quickly. I saw her nod three times before I circled her entrance, teasing her, and testing her limits.

"Please Em," she said not able to complete her sentence. I obliged and entered her with two fingers and she cried. I pumped in and out of her quickly and hard. "More" she said and I added a third finger before going to kiss her neck. I started to suck on a pulse point and she started clawing on my back. I knew she was close, I could feel the coiling in her stomach as my hand works vigorously. "I'm almost there," she said.

"I know," I whispered in her ear. I pressed my thumb to her clit as my fingers curled and found a rough spot. I smiled. Jackpot.

"Oh God Em, there! Right there!" she cried and I saw tears spilling out of her eyes and it gave me motivation. Her hips were bucking wildly into my hand and her back arched off the bed into me. I sucked harder on her pulse point, pressed harder on her clit and pushed my fingers in further and curled, touching her g-spot. I felt her clamp on my fingers, but that didn't stop me from rubbing her g-spot over and over. She came twice. She relaxed down onto the bed and squeezed me tighter into her until her breathing became less sporadic. Once I felt her unclenching I removed my hand and moved it towards my mouth. She tasted so sweet. I moved to get off of her, but her arms wrapped tighter.

"I need you on top of me," she breathed and I nodded. The clenching in my stomach grew and I knew I had to take care of it, but I also wanted to give her what she wanted since it was her first time with a girl. I involuntarily grinded into her.

"Mmmm," I moaned and pressed my head into her shoulder.

"Do it," she said as if reading my mind. I didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed her legs and spread them apart further. I reached down and separated my folds and placed them on hers and I felt a moan suppressed in her throat. I placed my head back on her shoulder as I moved against her. It felt so right and so damn good. I was almost there when I felt her move my head and bring me in for a kiss. I placed her hands on my nipples and it's like she knew what to do with them, because I was screaming out.

"Oh God Ali," I said with lust in my voice. I placed my hands on the bed and looked down to see what was happening. I don't know why but me watching what I'm doing is the biggest turn on and it makes me cum faster. I watched as our most sensitive areas glided against each other and the feeling I got when they pressed in a particular spot. I knew I wouldn't be able to cum from just grinding; I always needed penetration so I reached down with my hand. I entered myself with two fingers, but this time it didn't work. I frowned and she saw it.

"What's wrong?" she asked and I was too embarrassed to say that I couldn't do it.

"I don't know," I said panting and pushing in harder but it wasn't working, so I pulled out and laid beside her breathing heavily.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I really don't know, that hasn't happened before," I say and pull up the cover to look down at myself. I lay my head back on the bed trying to catch my breath. I move my arm and place it behind my head and decide to try again. I see her looking at me as I pump into myself and it's oddly hot. My fingers are going quick, but nothing's helping, I'm no closer to my orgasm than I was two minutes ago and I sigh loudly.

"Still not working?" she asks and I shake my head.

"No," I say and it's awkward because I've never experienced this before. My breathing is heavy because I've never been so sexually frustrated in my life. I bite my lip and try to get it under control.

"Do you want me to try?" she asks shyly.

"Uh-yeah," I say my breath catching in my throat. I see her hesitance. "But if you're not comfortable, I don't want to force you".

"I don't know what I'm doing," she says.

"I'll show you," I said and she moves to get on top of me. She kisses me and I respond. I take her hand place it on my breasts to get me worked up again. I then move her hand south and I feel it shake. I steady it as I take two of her fingers and place it at my entrance. I let out a gasp at the feeling. I push them in and my back arches of the bed. I pull them out and push them back in so she gets the hang of the motions. After a few minutes I feel the familiar coil in my stomach. "Faster" I say and she obliges. I breathe hard because I feel it coming stronger. "Right there" I say and pull a pillow on top of my face. I scream into it as the orgasm hits. It's stronger than anything I've ever felt, not even the ones I had with Joanna. It leaves me breathless. My body feels like its on fire and I can practically feel the veins in my neck and in the center of my head sticking out as my body arches into her. I remove the pillow once my breathing is a little better. Her fingers are still inside me as if she's unsure what to do next. I look in her eyes and kiss her as I remove her hand. I place them into my mouth and suck. Then I roll us over and kiss her deeply.

"That was incredible. I never felt anything like that," I say staring into her eyes.


	3. Accidents

I'm breathing heavily into her shoulder trying to come back from that high. It was incredible and that can't even describe it. I decide to take my weight off her and roll beside her. I bring my right arm behind my head as I rest on the pillows. I close my eyes tight and focus on my breathing. I look over to my left to see if she's all right.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"Yeah," she says quietly.

"Hey, tell me the truth," I say and lift her chin to look in my eyes and I see tears forming in hers.

"It's just that was my first time," she says.

"Yeah I know you've never been with a girl before," I say trying to continue the conversation.

"No it was my first time ever. I was a virgin," she says and I go numb.

"What?" I raise my voice loudly. "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask softly.

"Because I didn't want to be embarrassed and I wanted it to be with you," she says and I scoff.

"Don't you think I should've known that little piece of information," I say before getting up to slip on my boxers and sports bra.

"What's the big deal?" she asks.

"The big deal is that we just had sex. We didn't make love for your first time, it should be with someone you truly care about and that person should feel the same way," I say going to grab her hand trying to get the message across.

"I care about you," she says.

"We just met," I point out. "Now I feel like a complete asshole," I say and rub my face with my hands.

"Why?" she asks.

"Because I just broke up with my girlfriend of 7 years and took someone's virginity in the same weekend. How would you feel?" I ask rhetorically.

"So I was just a rebound?" she asks hurt.

"I don't know. I would say yes, but I felt something with you that I never felt with Joanna, and it scares me," I say honestly. "Can we have a do over?" I ask.

"Sure," she nods and I peck her on the lips. "So what does this mean?" she asks.

"Whatever you want it to," I say and look deeply into her eyes.

"What if I want you all to myself," she says and I smirk.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," I say and lean forward to kiss her. I deepen the kiss when I lick her bottom lip and she gives me entrance. Our tongues battle for dominance and I lay her back down on the bed. When we pull apart, we're out of breath. I press our heads together and we just stare at each other. "You must be tired," I say.

"Yeah pretty much," she says and we both laugh because I feel the same way. I climb under the sheets behind her and wrap my arm around her waist. She's still completely naked and I kiss her on the back of her shoulder and I hear her moan sleepily.

"Good night Ali," I say.

"Good night Em," she responds before my world turns black. I wake up and feel warmth under my arm. I open one eye and see familiar blonde locks on my face. I move my arm to push the hair away from me and glance at the clock to see that it's 6 am. I've always been an early riser so I get out of bed and decide to go for a run. I slip on a pair of shorts and sneakers and wrap my iPod around my arm. I wave at the deskman on my way out and make my way through the New York streets. It's relatively quiet and serene for being 6 am on a Sunday. My lungs start to burn and I turn up the music and keep pushing forward. I try and think about Joanna, but every time her face pops into my mind I get a sick feeling in my stomach. My thoughts turn to Alison and how the sunlight flows against her face in the morning and how her hair is naturally wavy. I feel something tugging at my heart when I think about how her eyes sparkle, or how it felt to have her in me and how it felt to see her in a moment of ecstasy. Joanna, out of all the years we were together has never made me feel this way. Was I ever in love with her? What does this mean for Alison and I? I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't see the cab coming and next thing I knew saw was someone standing over me before everything went black.

"Emily?" I hear a voice. "Emily?"

"What?" I say groggily. "Where am I?

"The hospital," Ezra says.

"What? Why?" I ask opening my eyes slowly. I see Ezra at my bedside hovering over me.

"You were hit by a car," he says and the events come back to me.

"Fucking New York cabbies," I mutter.

"Actually, it was you who ran when the light turned green," he said and I looked at him in confusion.

"But…" I trail off remember how distracted I was. "Right".

"You have a broken leg and concussion," he says and I look down at my casted right foot.

"Great," I say under my breath. "At least you got my favorite color," I say noting that the cast is black. A doctor comes in a few minutes later.

"You are one lucky lady," he says.

"Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself?" I remind him and his face flushes.

"Right, I'm Doctor Roberts, I treated you when you came in," he says and I nod.

"You came in unconscious and we checked you x-rays and CT scan. You have a broken leg; it was broken in two places, above the ankle and two inches below the knee. They were clean breaks and due to your age they should heal nicely. The cast will come off in 8 weeks. Once the cast comes off, you will be required to go to physical therapy to regain strength in you leg. You also have a concussion from when you hit the pavement, which explains the headache," he says and I feel a pounding in my head and the light from the room is almost blinding.

"Shut them off," I say.

"Shut what off?" Ezra asks nervously.

"The lights, they're too bright," I say and he does immediately.

"These symptoms will last for up to two weeks. Take Tylenol or Advil for the headaches. I'm prescribing you oxycodone for the pain for you leg," he says writing on a pad.

"No drugs," I mutter.

"You'll need them," he says in shock.

"No drugs," Ezra reiterates to him and the doctor nods.

"Am I allowed to leave?" I ask.

"Yes, I'll get you the discharge papers," Ezra said walking out with the doctor. I let out a deep sigh and think about the events of this past month. It really has been adventurous to put it mildly. Why can't things just go smoothly for once? I see Ezra filling out some information before entering the door.

"I filled it out for you," he says. "Ready to go?" he asks and I nod. He waves to a nurse who comes in with crutches and a wheelchair.

"What's that?" I point to the chair.

"Hospital policy," she says.

"I thought that was only in movies," I comment and she chuckles. She passes me the crutches.

"I thought I was riding in that," I look confused.

"I have to teach you how to walk on crutches first," she responds and directs me how to place the crutches underneath my arms. It takes five minutes to get the hang of it. Thank God for my already amazing upper body strength from swimming or else I would've been in trouble. The ride to the hospital exit was fun because it wasn't much work. I place the crutches on both sides of my body and lift myself into a standing position. The cast is really heavy unfortunately. Ezra and I walk outside and see our driver waiting. The car ride is filled with Ezra asking how I'm feeling and if I'm hungry.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"2 pm," he says.

"Shit! I was suppose to be home by now," I curse.

"No worries, I told mom and dad what happened and that I was driving us home," he said and I visibly relaxed. We arrive outside the building and he helps me out of the car. The elevator ride is spent resting on the crutches. I hear the familiar ding and he lets me go first. We walk to the door and he opens it with his key. Once we enter I see everyone waiting at the kitchen table silently.

"Who died?" I asked looking at their worried faces.

"Don't joke Em," Caleb let out a breath getting up. The light was too bright in the room and it was causing my headache to worsen so I close my eyes.

"Turn it off," I say and they all look confused, but Ezra knows and goes to shut off all the lights. I'm finally able to open my eyes again.

"She has a mild concussion and a broken leg," Ezra says and I hear them suck in breaths.

"It's fine guys," I reassure them hobbling on the crutches to sit in a chair. Caleb pulls it out and gets another chair and lifts my leg on it. "Thank you," I say.

"No problem, elevation helps," he says and I remember when he broke his arm a couple years ago. "Did you take your pills yet?" he asked and I shook my head, the pain in my leg finally settling in.

"Why not?" he asked.

"No pills," I said through clenched teeth and all the body nodded in understanding. "Drink," I say and he's up pouring me a glass of Whiskey. I down it and the burn in my throat take away some pain.

"Better?" he asks.

"Much," I say and they chuckle.

"So what happened Em?" Aria asks and I realize that Ezra didn't tell them anything.

"I was running and I got distracted and a cab hit me," I say.

"Jesus Em, you need to be more careful!" Toby says.

"I know," I say looking down ashamed that my friend was scolding me.

"What distracted you?" Caleb asked.

"Thoughts," I said vaguely and they all got the hint to leave it alone. "It's time to head home guys, I know your parents are probably looking for you," I say and they all agree and go to pack their bags. Barry comes in and places my favorite food down, mac and cheese.

"Thank you Barry, for everything you do," I smile brightly and he returns the smile.

"Of course," he nods and exits the room. I dig into the food and once I'm done I go to take a shower. I realize the cast is going to cause some problems, and I need help. I decide against the boys helping me even though I know they would. I quietly hobble to Alison's door and I knock. I hear footsteps before the door opens.

"Hey," she smiles.

"Hey, I know this is awkward, but…" I trail off and turn a deep shade of red.

"But what?" she asks.

"I kind of don't want to smell like I just ran three miles and got hit by a car," I laughed and she smiled, but looked at me to continue. "I need help taking a shower".

"Of course," she says and we go towards my room that has a shower attached. I put the crutches against the wall and put my hands on her shoulders as she takes off my shirt and then my sports bra. Suddenly I'm feeling self-conscious and that this was a bad idea. Pretty soon her hands are on my hips and pulling down my pants and boxers. Her arm wraps around my waist and move me to the toilet seat.

"We need a plastic bag," she says and I look in confusion. "To wrap it around your cast. It can't get wet," she explains and I look surprised at how much information she knew. I point towards the little dispenser and she opens it to reveal new plastic bags. We tie it around my leg and she stands me up. She wraps her arm around my waist as I hop towards the shower. She starts it and I lean against the wall. I grab my washcloth and soap and wash myself as she watches to make sure I don't fall after I'm done with that side of my body, I lean forwards and let the water wash me off. I then look at her and she helps me turn around and takes the washcloth. She soaps up my backside before pushing me towards the water. After she shuts off the water, I point to the towels in the cabinet and she comes back and wraps it around me. I hop out the shower and pull the towel into a knot before grabbing my crutches and making my way inside my room. She picks out my clothes, settling on a t-shirt, shorts and one Nike slide. I'm able to dress myself for the most part, but by then I'm exhausted and in pain.

"Thank you," I say flopping back onto the bed.

"Anytime," she says and I move back further onto the bed. I reach my hand out and she grabs it. I pull her onto the bed and she's lying on top of me. We lay in relative silence before she breaks it.

"What distracted you earlier?" she asked.

"My thoughts," I repeat.

"Thoughts about what?" she asks persistently.

"Thoughts about you," I say truthfully and I she gasps slightly.

"What were they about?" she asks and I haven't felt this exposed or open about my feelings in well ever. Of course I told Joanna that I loved her, but I've never been the one to talk about feeling easily.

"I'm tired," I say faking a yawn and she slaps my chest. "Ow!" I exaggerate.

"Come on tell me," she pleads.

"I was thinking about how beautiful you look when the sunlight flows against her face in the morning, and how your eyes sparkle, and how it felt to be close to you last night," I say looking in her eyes and bringing her hand to my lips.

"I don't know what to say," she says breathless.

"Don't say anything," I say staring into her eyes. "You are so beautiful," I move a strand of hair from her face before leaning in to kiss her. I feel her kiss back and I go to deepen the kiss. I lick her lips and she allows me entrance. Our tongues battle for dominance and pretty soon I move her on top of me. Her weight isn't suffocating I welcome it. Our bodies mold perfectly and I pull her into me. I spread her legs so she's now straddling me. I try sitting up and I get the perfect angle to her neck. I hear her moans and calling my name and I smile against her pulse point before sucking it. She grabs my hair and pulls me back onto her lips. My hands ghost over her back before trailing down to her ass and pulling it into me. We both gasp and settle our heads against each other. I see that her eyes have turned a dark shade of cobalt.

"Your eyes," I say trailing my hands on her cheeks. "I've waited for you for so long," I say softly before she kisses me passionately. I flip us over despite my leg. I know I'll be paying for it later, but she's worth it. I press into her and my hands find its way up her dress. "I can't keep my hands off of you," I say against her lips. I pull at the waistband of her panties and we're interrupted by a knock.

"What?" I yell.

"Time to go Em and Ali," Ezra says and I groan and rest my head on her shoulder to get my breath under control.

"Be out in a second," I say and I hear footsteps walking away. After a few more seconds I roll over and look at her to see her struggling to catch her breath. I sit up and move to grab my crutches. After I stand, I see she's looking at me from across the bed. She gets off the bed and goes to the bathroom to fix herself up. We walk out of the room to see the girls waiting; the guys must've left.

"Ready?" my brother asks and Alison comes out of her room with her bag and blushes when she sees the girls' stares.

"Yeah, we're ready," I say hobbling over to the door. Once we're outside the valet goes to get the truck. We open up the back seats to fit us all. Spencer and Hanna sit behind me, Alison is sitting with me, and Aria is sitting up front with Ezra. I decide to sit with my back against her to elevate my leg. Somewhere along the ride my head ends up in her lap and my legs are folded at the knee. I play with her leg tracing patterns before noticing that Spencer and Hana are asleep. Aria is in a deep conversation with my brother so I take that as my queue. I grab my jacket and put it over my head and upper body. My hand sneaks its way under her dress and I hear her gasp. I move it further and I feel her hand try to stop me. I peak out of my coat and put a hand to my lips and smirk.

"Ezra, can you turn up the music?" I ask and he blasts it since Aria has her headphones in, their conversation long over. I see her about to drift into sleep as well. The New York traffic is a bitch, as always so an hour drive will turn into two or three. My hand goes back into motion ghosting over her center. I pull at her panties, pulling them down a little to give me better access. My finger finds her clit and I rub it until it starts to swell. I feel her legs shake and she squeezes on the coat. I move my finger down further and tease her entrance and she tenses. I pull her dress over my head and under the coat. I press my tongue to her clit and enter her at the same time and I hear a squeak. I squeeze her knee to remind her to keep quiet. I pull away and feel her protest. I grab glasses and hand them to her to cover her eyes and move her head to lean on the window for support so my brother won't notice. I go back to my previous position and place two fingers in her and she jumps. My tongue massages her clit and she's shaking more visibly. It thrills me that we could be caught, but I don't seem to mind. I continue pumping in and out of her and I know she's close. I move my face away and pull the coat slightly so I'm looking at her. I put my hand over her mouth as she clenches around me tightly and I rub her clit and apply pressure. I remove my hand and her mouth opens as if she's trying to catch her breath. I go back under to clean her up and her hand comes on top of my head forcing me there, telling me she's ready for round 2. I continue to lick and suck on her until I feel her writhing underneath me again. After I clean up, I press my lips to her stomach and drift into sleep. I dream about what it would be like to see her with children and pregnant, and me making those stupid craving runs. I never dreamed about having kids before even though I know it's a necessity in my family to continue to family line. I just never had anyone to picture it with until now and it was fun to see a future.

I could imagine her with long blond locks playing with a mini her and a mini me. Motherhood would look great on her. Ugh why am I having these thoughts? We only met a week ago? But I can't help those feelings that come when I think about her, about us. It's so confusing, I don't even know if there is an 'us'. I just know that we had sex twice and they were great might I add, especially for her first time. Stop thinking about this Emily! Thankfully I felt someone shaking me.

"Wake up Em," she says and smiles down at me. "We're here". I open my eyes and take off the coat. She passes me the glasses and I lift up to sit and move my leg. Ezra comes around and takes the crutches from the ground and helps me out of the car.

"Thanks Ez," I say and he nods. My mom comes rushing to me with my dad following closely behind.

"Next time just go to the strip club," my dad says and I burst out laughing. "It's much better than you going to the hospital," he finished.

"We were about to come when Ezra told us that he was there and it was nothing serious," my mom said.

"Yeah it's just a broken leg and concussion," I say.

"How did it happen?" they asked.

"I got hit by a cab when I was running," I said not giving them all the details.

"Oh sweetie," my mom said and I could practically see the tears forming and I thanked Alison for giving me the glasses so I could roll my eyes at her ridiculousness.

"I'm pretty tired, I'm gonna go to my room," I say dragging Alison with me. The other girls looked around and followed us. Ezra came in to find us looking nervously at the stairs. He took control and carried me up the stairs and laid me on my bed.

"Thank you Ezra," I say and he nodded before looking towards Aria.

"Your room is made. I'll send Aria there after mom comes to do her daily rounds," I say.

"Thanks Em," he winks at Aria before taking off for his room. Sure enough my mom walks in without knocking.

"God mom, the door was closed for a reason," I say.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know if you girls wanted any snacks?" she asks.

"Yeah sure," I say and she leaves to go make them.

"Why are you so mean to your mom?" Hanna asks and I suck my teeth and roll my eyes.

"We have our issues," I say and they leave it alone.

"You guys want to watch a movie?" I ask and they nod. I turn on my TV and flip to Netflix. "Rock, paper, scissors for who gets movie selection," I said and Hanna wins, of course she chooses Mean Girls and there's no complaints. My mom returns with chips and dip, brownies, soda, and pizza.

"Here you go girls," she says.

"Thanks mom," I say and smile and she smiles brightly making my stomach twinge in guilt for how I treat her, but my anger won't let it go.

"Of course, yell if you need anything," she says and exits the room.


	4. Breakdown

I woke to the sound of my alarm blaring and my leg throbbing. I really wish I didn't have a pill problem, but this is just another day in the life of Emily Fields. I grabbed my crutches and made my way to the bathroom. I was able to wrap my leg and take a proper shower even though it took me 20 extra minutes. I went back to my room to change and settled on a black t-shirt and jeans. I realized my mistake when I tried to fit it on my crutches. Well they were pretty old and cut up; I might as well cut them. I grabbed the scissors and made a cut at the knee. I slipped them on and it went surprisingly well since my cast was as black as my jeans. I put on one of my vans sneakers and a beanie. I really don't like dressing up too fancy at school because it will draw attention if people see you walking in with $500 shirts and shoes and a sports car. Wait, can I even drive? Ugh this cast is getting so annoying. I grab my bag and walk out of my room and proceed to the steps. My leg is throbbing and I don't want to risk another accident.

"Dad! Ezra!" I called and received no response. "Dad! Ezra!" I yelled louder and saw both of them bounding up the stairs. Dad carried me and Ezra grabbed my bag from me. "Thanks dad".

"Of course Emmy," he said sympathetically.

"Did you take any pain medication? I need to monitor them," my mom said and I rolled my eyes. Shit I forgot my glasses upstairs.

"Ezra can you go get my sunglasses from upstairs?" I asked and he went to go get them. "I told the doctor no medication," I said and she looked at me funny as if she didn't believe me, which annoyed me to no end. "If you want to check, you can ask Ezra," I said with a bite.

"Okay, sorry," she said putting up her hands. She turned around to grab a plate off the counter and put it in front of me.

"When do I get a car? I need to get to school somehow," I said.

"Well you can't drive with your foot like that," my mom said not allowing my dad to speak.

"Actually, I can since I won't be under the influence," I said in a matter of fact tone. "I'll just call grandfather and as him to send me one of my cars since you guys oh so nicely sold my Ferrari," I said bringing back the anger I had that day they took it away.

"Oh get over that," my mother scoffed.

"Yeah just like you want me to forget everything," I said angrily and she shut up and walked out of the room. My father shook his head. "What?"

"You should really be nicer to your mother," he says.

"And you should really speak up for yourself," I shoot back and he walks away sensing my mood coming on. Ezra comes back down with my glasses.

"Ezra, can you take me to school, I really don't want to be bothered with them," I say getting up on my crutches, leaving the food untouched.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked.

"Pam made me lose my appetite," I said and he shut his mouth. Everyone does when I call her by her first name. I know nothing will help me to shake this mood except for time. Why does she have to make me so angry? Why do I continue to allow her to have such an effect on me? Whatever. I slip on my glasses and throw on my backpack and hobble outside and towards his truck. He helps me get in and drive towards the school. I enter the school and see that most of the school is in the hallway. I notice the group at one of their lockers and they wave so I nod. I make my way towards them.

"Hey Em" they say.

"Hey guys," I respond.

"How are you feeling?" Alison asks.

"Like crap," I chuckle.

"Where do you need to go?" she asks.

"The front office to get my schedule and stuff," I say.

"Okay guys I'm going to take her, I'll see you later," she says and leads me in the direction that I suppose is the front office. We walk in silence until we reach the office.

"Hello, I'm Emily Fields, I'm here to register for school," I say.

"You're already registered Ms. Buchanan," the front office lady smiles and I'm taken by surprise.

"Uh thank you," I stutter and she goes to print some things.

"Ms. Buchanan?" Alison asks.

"Fields is my mom's maiden name. We use it now because it's our fresh start whatever the hell that means," I say to her.

"Here you go Ms. Buchanan, I was told that if you need anything while you're here come straight to the principal," she smiles and hands me my schedule.

"How did you know my last name?" I ask.

"Your grandfather registered you and made a rather large donation," she whispers to Alison and I.

"Oh did he, well thank you," I say and Alison follows after me.

"Does he do that often?" she asks and I look confused. "Make large donations?" she clarifies and I nod. I stop at a bench and sit down. I take out my phone to call him and after three rings he picks up.

"Emmy?" he asks.

"Hello grandfather," I say.

"How are you feeling I heard about the accident?" he asks.

"I'm doing fine. That is until I learned you registered me for school and made a donation," I whisper the last part.

"Well I don't know what the big deal is," he says.

"The big deal is that the front office knows my last name," I grumble.

"What's so bad about that?" he asks.

"Grandfather it's a small town and I'd rather make real friends than the ones that only want me because my last name comes with money attached. Besides mother decided we're using her maiden name," I say the last part sheepishly knowing he would be mad.

"What? Where does she get the right to do that?" he yells.

"Calm down! It was her idea of a fresh start," I say.

"We'll talk about this more this weekend. I have to go back to work and I'm sending over Tyler over with some things I need you to take a look at before you get here," he says.

"Okay when is Tyler coming exactly?" I ask.

"Should be there tomorrow, I don't know what time," he says.

"Okay, I love you grandfather," I say.

"I love you too Emmy," he says and I can't help but smile.

"Why do you call him grandfather? It sounds so formal," she asks.

"When you meet him you'll know," I say and she nods. We get up and I show her my schedule.

"Oh man, we only have one class together," she says sullen.

"What is that?" I ask.

"Gym," she says. "You have a lot of AP Courses," she says and I nod.

"Yes thank my grandfather for that," I laugh.

"AP French?" she asks.

"My grandfather sent me to boarding school in France and I perfected it before returning to the states," I say.

"AP Calculus BC, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Physics C, AP European History," she says out loud.

"Oh cool, he actually listened and gave me European History as an elective," I laugh.

"AP European History as an elective? How will you find time to do anything with this schedule?" she asks and I laugh.

"Don't worry, I'll always have time for you." I say and she goes through the other papers.

"What are these? Clubs and Sports?" she asks.

"Grandfather makes me join clubs and sports to help make me a well rounded student for admissions," I say as we enter a classroom that's only half full.

"Student government, French club, swim team, financial literacy club," she lists. "I didn't even know we had those".

"If you didn't, you do now," I laugh. "His money is used for building new labs or buildings and funding for clubs".

"Wow your grandfather sounds like a great man," she says.

"He's the best," I smile happily.

"How come you never talk about your mom like that?" she asks and the events of this morning come back. I could feel a shift in my mood and energy and it's hard to stop.

"I have my reasons," I mutter out and thankfully we hear a warning bell and she has to leave for class. Soon enough it's lunchtime and I find the girls sitting at a table.

"Hey Em, how are you liking Rosewood High?" Hanna asks.

"I hate it," I grumble out and they're taken aback by my sadden state.

"What happened? Did someone say something?" Alison asks.

"No, sorry guys I'm just not feeling well," I say.

"Poor Em," they say and look sympathetic.

"Are you hungry?" Alison asks.

"No," I say.

"You need to eat, you didn't have breakfast this morning," Aria says.

"How did you know?" I ask.

"Ezra told me to look after you," she says.

"Great. I appreciate it but I really don't feel like eating," I say.

"You have to eat Em," Alison says softly.

"If I eat I will throw it up," I say and put my head on the table. "Come on guys, just eat your lunch I promise I will be fine tomorrow," I smile and they look uncertain but return to conversation. They try for the rest of the period to get me to talk but I'm just content with listening. Honestly my moods and emotions have been all over the place and I really don't want to say the wrong thing. Thankfully the end of school comes and they all meet me by my locker.

"How does it feel to finish your first day?" Spencer asked.

"Really good," I say smiling. They're completely taken aback by my mood change.

"Really?" Alison asks hesitantly.

"Yeah, I have to go, Ezra's waiting for me outside," I say trying to escape their stares. They each give me a hug I hobble outside to see Ezra.

"Hey, how was your first day?" he asks.

"The worst," I grumble as he helps me into the car.

"Why?" he asks and starts the engine.

"My mood has sucked since breakfast," I said and he nodded.

"Did you…?" he asks.

"No," I respond.

"Okay," he says leaving the topic alone. Once we arrive back to the house he carries me upstairs and I stay there doing homework that is relatively easy.

"Dinner Emily," I hear my mom call and I roll my eyes. Great I have to spend a half hour listening to her talk. Ezra comes upstairs and helps me get situated at the table.

"How was school Emily?" my mom asks.

"Can't you say hi Emily, you look sick, how are you for once?" I ask with a bite.

"Emily don't talk to your mother like that," my dad says.

"I'm not talking to my mother, I'm talking to Pam," I say and they all shut up and leave me alone knowing that I'm unreachable when I'm in a mood. "May I be excused?"

"You haven't touched anything," my mom says.

"I lost my appetite," I say and glare at her.

"Okay, if you get hungry just let me know and I'll bring it up to you," she says and I nod. Ezra starts moving before I stop him with my hand telling him that I can do it on my own. As painful as those five minutes were, I felt relieved that I could do it on my own. I make my way back into my room and put on my headphones. I blast angry music knowing it won't help my mood. I wish I could go for a run, but my stupid leg is broken. I see Ezra enter the room and I take out an earpiece.

"Can we talk?" he asks.

"Sure," I say and he closes the door.

"How come you're so angry with mom? I never asked you before because I never felt like it was my place because I didn't come into your life until you were 9 and I didn't feel like a full part of the family, but I'm asking you now," he explains.

"It's complicated," I say.

"Try and explain it to me," he pleads.

"I really don't want to talk about it. Why don't you go talk to mom?" I ask.

"Every time I try she shuts down and starts crying," he says.

"I'll tell you one day, just not now," I say and he nods.

"You're always so guarded Em. I don't know why, you never even really opened up to Joanna, and I just want you to know that I'm your big brother and I'll protect you and you can always talk to me," he says.

"I know," I say and put the earpiece back in my ear and he walks out looking hurt. I really hate dredging up the past, even though I don't talk about it to anyone. Maybe he does have a point, maybe I don't open up to people, but I'm just protecting myself, or at least that's what I keep telling me every time I go to sleep at night. I wake up in the middle of the night to someone shaking me. I open my eyes to see it's my mother.

"Great I'm having a fucking nightmare," I say glaring at her and I can see the hurt flash across her face. "What are you doing in my room?"

"You were having a nightmare and you were screaming," she says softly.

"Yeah, and?" I ask.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," she says.

"Too little too late Pam," I say angry. "Good night," I say and turn over and wait for her to leave. Once I hear the door close I feel tears slip down my face. I really hate my anger for her sometimes because she tries so hard, but I can't stop thinking about what caused me to be angry with her. Soon light is coming into my room and I make my way towards the shower. It's still difficult but manageable and next thing I know I'm down at the breakfast table wearing my Ray Bans.

"What did you say to your mother last night?" my dad hisses.

"Nothing," I say confused.

"She cried herself to sleep and won't come out of her room. You need to fix this," he says sternly and I sigh.

"It's not my fault she's sensitive," I roll my eyes.

"No, but it's your fault she's this way. She's really trying," he says.

"Too little too late," I say.

"Whatever, hold onto your anger like your grandfather, see where that gets you. A world full of loneliness and bitterness," he says.

"Don't you dare talk about my grandfather like you know him," I say getting defensive.

"You're just like him," he says with venom he's never used on me before.

"This is bullshit," I say grabbing a set of keys and taking off for school. Once I get to my locker the anger has built inside of me. I know anything will set me off, I just pray that nothing does.

"Hey Em," I hear the girls say behind me.

"Hey," I mumble.

"What's wrong Em?" Spencer asks.

"Nothing just family problems," I say still not facing them and pretending that I'm looking for a book.

"You can talk to us," Hanna says.

"Thanks guys but I don't really do talking or feelings, please just give me some space. Please," I plead before slamming my locker and hobbling off. I hate how rude I was to them but I just need to cool off before I lose the only friends I have in this hellhole. I make it through the first half of the day without anyone pissing me off which is good. The bell rings signaling lunch and I make my way to the library to give myself time to breathe. Pretty soon the day is over and I make my way to Ezra's car.

"How was your day?" he asks.

"Worst than the first," I mumble and the ride home is spent in silence. We walk in the house to see my father with his head in his hands sitting by the counter.

"What's wrong dad?" Ezra asks.

"Your mom is still locked in the room," he responds and I can tell he's been crying. I make my way upstairs and knock on the door.

"Mom, it's me," I say softly and I hear footsteps. She opens up the door and she looks like death paid her a visit. Her hair is all over the place, her face has tear streaks, and it looks like she's lost weight. "Come on let's get you cleaned up," I say. I lead her back into the master bathroom before stripping her and preparing a bath. Once she's bathed and clothed I put her in a chair to comb through her wet hair. I clean up the room and make her lie down. "Mom what's wrong?" I ask already knowing the answer.

"You hate me," she cries.

"I don't hate you," I say and she looks up at me in shock.

"You don't?" she asks.

"No," I say not giving anymore, but I guess that's all she needs because now she's smiling and clinging to me. It feels awkward because I don't usually have physical contact with her only verbal. She crying against my chest and I wrap my arms around her like I'm her protector.

"I thought you hated me," she cried. "Emily, can we go talk to someone?" she asks.

"No," I say and try to move away but she clings to me harder.


	5. Breakthrough

The sound of the alarm clock comes blaring through my room and I hit it hard. I follow my daily routine and make my way down to breakfast. I see my mom in the kitchen her back facing me.

"Morning Emily," she turns and smiles at me but I can tell it's fake. I can see hurt splashed all across it.

"Morning mom," I say before grabbing keys.

"Do you want me to give you a ride?" she asks softly.

"No, I've got it," I say thanking that my dad worked from home today. I made my way to school fairly easily using my left leg even though it's quite an adjustment. I get out the car to see Alison and Spencer by theirs.

"Hey Em," they say.

"Hey guys," I give them a small smile before making my way inside the school. The clouds from yesterday have cleared and the sky looked beautiful. I walk to my locker to grabs the books I need but feel a presence behind me.

"Hey Ali," I say smelling her scent.

"How'd you know?" she asks and I can tell she's smiling.

"You scent is very distinct," I say closing my locker and turning to her. "Is there anything you needed?"

"Uh, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out today?" she asks.

"It's not really a good time," I say.

"When will it be? I mean I practically gave it up to you and now you're avoiding me," she says softly.

"It's not you…" I start to say but she interrupts me.

"But it's me? Are you really going to use that one?" she asks angrily.

"I was going to say its family," I correct.

"Please I just want to talk," she says and I sigh. Why does everyone want to talk?

"Sure, where?" I ask.

"My house," she says and I nod. I spend my lunchtime in the library because I find comfort in the silence. Pretty soon school is over and I dread as I make my way towards Alison's house. I knock on the door and she appears.

"Hey Em," she says and I nod. "Want to stay here or go up to my room?" she asks and I shrug. We end up going to her bedroom. "So I wanted to talk about us," she says and I really regret agreeing to this.

"What about it?" I ask.

"Is there an us?" she asks.

"I don't know. I'm focused on other things and I don't want to hurt you. I just got out of a relationship and I'm dealing with family drama," I say and hurt flashes across her eyes.

"Well that's okay I guess," she says and crosses her arms putting up a wall. I really do hate when feelings and emotions become involved. It makes things more complicated than a jigsaw puzzle.

"What do you want me to say?" I ask exasperated with everyone wanting me to talk.

"I want you to open up to me. I want you to tell me things about you and stop putting up a wall. You basically know everything about me, what I like, what I don't like, my family life, my past, but I don't know anything about you," she says.

"I don't like talking," I say honestly.

"Yeah I can see that," she scoffs.

"If you're going to judge me then I won't say anything," I snap.

"Uh sorry, I didn't mean it how it came out," she apologizes.

"I don't like talking because well it's always been hard for me to express my feelings ever since I was a child. I want to tell you everything but it's really hard for me to open up my mouth and speak," I say.

"Start from the beginning," she says softly.

"I don't even know where the beginning starts or where it ends," I say and rub my fingers through my hair.

"What happened yesterday?" she asks and I look confused. "Aria mentioned something about you mom," she says.

"My mom had somewhat of a breakdown," I say.

"Was it because of you?" she asks hesitantly.

"Sort of," I say.

"We're not going to get anywhere if you answer me with two words," she says.

"We have a rocky relationship because she abandoned me," I confess and she looks confused.

"She and my father had me when they were still in college. My grandfather took care of me like I was his own and my father would visit me in the summers, but my mom completely cut me off. I guess I never really got over it because she came back into my life at 9 and they got married and fostered Ezra a year later, then adopted him when he was 16. He still doesn't know about this. I never told him or really anyone," I confess and realization crosses her face. "I treat her bad because I hate her for abandoning me and I have so many trust issues, abandonment issues, and anger management issues. I hated what she made me into. It would've been easier to accept if she visited me during the summers, but she just left and didn't come back for years," I felt tears coming down my face. "For years I would question myself what I did that was so wrong to make her leave me. Was it because I was gay? Was it because I wasn't the child she wanted? I've been asking those questions my whole life," I wiped away my tears.

"Have you ever asked her?" Alison asks.

"No, every time I think about it and I see her, I get a sick feeling in my stomach. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to explode or just go crazy. One time I did," I let out.

"When?" she asks.

"This past summer, which is why I went to rehab," I said. "Drugs and alcohol aren't my problem, she is," I finish. "She asked me to go see someone with her to talk," I say.

"What did you say to her?" she asks.

"I told her no. I can't," I choke.

"Why not? Don't you deserve answers?" she asks.

"I don't want answers," I say trying to hold onto my anger.

"Why? Because you feel that once you get them all your anger and what has made you, you will disappear?" she says as if reading my mind.

"Yes. I'm scared because this anger that I've held onto has made me the Emily that you and everyone else likes or loves to like. I'm scared that she'll have a reason for leaving me that will make me hate myself even more for wasting so many years hating her," I say.

"Emily, it's not healthy to hold onto all your emotions. You need to know. It will give you peace and hopefully help you to start a real relationship with your mother," she says. "If you can't respect and love your mother, how can I expect you to love and respect me?" she asks and I never really thought of it that way. Was that the reason that I could not love fully? Was that the reason of why I was afraid of commitment to a real relationship? With Joanna it was always me giving and her taking in exchange for safety that she'd always return for my money and company and good sex, but with Alison, I'm afraid, I'm terrified.

"I'm scared," I admit.

"Scared of what?" she asks.

"Of loving you," I say and brush my hands against her face. "I'm scared because I've never loved anyone like I love you, not even myself. I'm scared that you can read me that you can break down all the walls that I've built. I'm scared that you will love me as much as I love you because I know I don't deserve love. I'm unlovable. I'm scared that if I let you in, you will break my heart and that's something I can never see myself recovering from. With Joanna it was always about being in each other's company and having meaningless sex and just partying. But with you, I've never felt something during sex. It's always lacked emotions and was only about needing something to hold onto and with you it's just about feeling love and showing you love," I say and tears are in our eyes at my admission. "I'm so scared of my emotions because I've never known what to do with them. You make me want to be a better Emily. Before you all I was worried about was that my parents took away my Ferrari, and now I'm here spilling my most intimate thoughts and sharing a family secret that's been buried for years".

"I love you," she cries into my hands.

"How? I can't even love myself," I say and she cries harder.

"I wish you could see what I see," she says.

"What do you see?" I ask.

"I see the real you. I see the Emily that laughs at corny jokes, who doesn't talk like a rich snob, that dresses down to fit in, that loves her family unconditionally even though they have issues, the Emily that sacrifices her own happiness for others, the one who see the beauty in the most ugly things. I see you Emily and I don't want to see anybody else the way I see you," she says and the tears are flowing down my eyes. "You always look so confident, I had no idea that you were so…"

"Insecure? Devoid of emotion? Unlovable?" I say.

"Incomplete," she finishes. "I know now that you were incomplete because you never have me. We fit like a key in a hole," she says and we laugh at the dirtiness of her joke.

"I love you too, with everything in me, even though I don't love myself," I say and lean in for a kiss. It's passionate and it's telling us that we need each other. "I love you so much it hurts," I say against her lips before resuming my position. Our lips were made for each other and now I'm asking myself so many questions. Is she my soul mate? Why was she sent to me so early? Is there a difference between loving her and loving myself? "Not enough money could be given to me to give this up with you. I want you forever," I whisper.

"I want you forever too. It's a good thing that it only just started this weekend," she says and I laugh at how fast things were going with her. "So will you talk to your mom?" she asks.

"Yes," I say and she smiles against the kiss. My phone vibrating interrupts our moment. Tyler flashes across the screen and I sigh. "Hey Tyler what's up?" I ask.

"I'm in Rosewood near your house, I have some documents for you," he says.

"Walk or drive 10 houses down and you'll see a grey house with a stone porch," I explain.

"Okay be there in 5," he says and hangs up.

"That's Tyler, he's bringing documents for me to review before I see my grandfather this weekend," I explain.

"Okay, I'll go let him in," she says heading downstairs. I hear footsteps a few minutes later and in bursts Tyler holding a mountain of papers.

"These are for you," he says letting out a sigh as he puts the papers next to me on the nightstand.

"Thank you Tyler," I say and reach in my pocket for my wallet. I pull out three hundred. "Here's for being the best assistant and for making the trip," I say and he lights up.

"Thank you," he says. "These need to be reviewed immediately. Your grandfather wants a report for each stack and for you to run the financials on the current projects the company is doing. He knows how good you are with numbers," he explains and I nod letting him know he can leave. Once we're alone I see Alison looking at the pile.

"A lot of papers," she comments and I laugh.

"Yeah, but it's a piece of cake," I say.

"Says the one who has been born into the world of business, you're like a prodigy," she says and I have no choice but to chuckle.

"Hmm more like Forbes number 3 richest eligible bachelorettes," I say stroking my non-existent ego.

"3?" she asks with an eyebrow raise.

"Yeah a girl with pigtails beat me because she started her own cupcake company or something," I laugh.

"Aww poor Em lost to a girl with pigtails, must be a big heartbreak," she teases.

"Not really since she was 22," I laugh and she flashes a look of horror. I see her looking at the pile again curiously.

"Want me to teach you a few things?" I ask.

"Are you allowed to?" she asks.

"Of course I am," I say and take out a few papers from the stack. "This is a new project the company is doing and after I review it, I have to create numbers against a few equations to see how well it will sell on the market," I say.

"Sounds complicated," she says.

"Sounds complicated, but easy as hell," I say. We read the report within a half hour and I teach her the equations.

"So what does that number mean?" she asks.

"That number is a ration of how well it will sell. The higher the left number against the right, the better it will sell. That will determine if the project is a go and how much my grandfather will invest and how much shares he will get in the new project," I explain.

"So is that a good number?" she asks.

"No, this number shows that less than have of the population in a certain contained area of New York will buy it and that means it will be less likely to succeed in other parts of the country and sometimes overseas. It's not low enough to scrap the idea, it just needs more exposure," I say.

"Have you thought of any projects?" she asks.

"Yes, my grandfather has me working on one now and I have to propose it to him pretty soon," I say.

"What's it about?" she asks.

"Since we have large stock shares in newspaper and magazine companies, I'm trying to expand our social media platform. I ran the numbers and with this added exposure, our stock shares will triple in value," I say happily.

"You never told me what your family does for money," she says and I smile.

"You still haven't put it together?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Pass me your laptop," I say and she gets it from her desk. I type in Archibald Buchanan into Google. "Here's everything you've been looking for," I say as she takes the computer and reads. I return back to my papers for a few minutes.

"Wow, you come from old money," she says.

"Yeah something like that," I answer.

"So do you get involved in the pharmaceutical company?" she asks.

"Only when it involves business deals, I have nothing to do with the drug part of it," I answer honestly.

"It says that your family owns houses in a lot of places," she says.

"Yeah," I answer.

"Where are they?" she asks.

"France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, South Africa, Germany, Russia, India, Australia, China, Japan, and Brazil," I say.

"Whoa, that's a lot of houses," she says with her mouth hanging open.

"Yeah, but they're great for vacation and I prefer them over hotels. There's a bunch more, but those are the ones I remember visiting for business and vacation," I say.

"Will you take me to France?" she asks.

"Pour combien de temps?" I ask (For how long?)

"Que diriez-vous toujours?" she asks and I smile brightly. (How about forever?)

"Vous semblez parler Français sexy," I whisper into her ear. (_**You sound sexy speaking French**_)

"Votre accent est la meilleure," she says and I kiss her deeply. (_**Your accent is the best**_). Our kiss lasts for minutes before we break for air.

"Eu gostaria que pudéssemos ficar assim para sempre," I say. (_**I wish we could stay like this forever**_).

"What did you say?" she asks.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," I say looking down at her.

"What language?" she asks.

"Portugese," I respond.

"How many languages do you know?" she asks.

"4 fluently excluding English and about 9 I know a little to get by if I were to stop there for vacation," I say.

"Which ones do you know fluently?" she asks.

"You'll just have to find out," I say and kiss her nose. "I should probably get home," I say before grabbing my crutches and standing. She helps me down the stairs and out the door. I make my way home and when I enter the room I hear my mom in the kitchen.

"Hello Emily, are you hungry?" she asks.

"No I'm fine," I say.

"Okay, if you need anything let me know," she says.

"Actually, Alison talked to me and she made me realize that talking to someone might not be a bad idea," I say and she smiles brightly.

"So you'll go with me?" she asks hesitantly.

"Yeah," I say.

"Oh that's just great, I'll set something up. How about for this weekend?" she asks.

"I'm going to visit grandfather this weekend," I say and she deflates.

"Oh, well how about Tuesday or Wednesday?" she asks.

"That should be fine, I'll check my schedule and let you know," I say and she comes up to me and hugs me. Even on crutches I still tower over her and she seems so small these days. I kiss her on top of her head before I feel tears springing in my eyes and I blink them back and clear my throat. "I'm going upstairs," I say before hobbling up the stairs. I remain in my room review the files and typing up reports. I'm a quarter way through when I hear a knock at my door.

"Emily, dinner is ready," my mom says.

"I'm not hungry," I say.

"You haven't eaten since before yesterday," she says.

"Mom, I'm not hungry please don't push me," I say and she takes the hint and leaves. After putting the papers away I work on a paper for AP English that's due next week. Once that's done, I decide to go to sleep. I'm out like a light due to exhaustion and find myself waking up the next morning and the light is brighter than ever. I squeeze my eyes shut and search for the glasses on my nightstand. They fall onto the floor and I lean over to get them and end up falling off the bed and my leg is now throbbing. It hurts like a bitch, but I know I can't use the medicine. I bite the inside of my cheek and make my way into the bathroom for a shower. My leg is still hurting so I ask Ezra to take me downstairs. I grab the keys and make my way towards the door.

"Aren't you going to eat Emily?" my mom asks.

"No appetite," I say and continue walking. After making it to school I sit in the car a few minutes to just collect my thoughts. I make my way to my locker and see the girls waiting for me.

"Hey guys," I say.

"Hey Em," they respond. I go to kiss Alison but she hugs me instead and pretends like it was meant for her cheek. I'm confused and slightly hurt. I mean we've never discussed PDA, but I guess she isn't that type of person. I act like it doesn't hurt and just continue inside my locker. The girls eventually separate leaving Alison and I standing at my locker.

"You can go, I know my way around," I dismiss her and take off for class.

"Hey what's wrong?" she asks.

"I don't know you tell me, you seem to know me so well," I say and leave her behind. I skip lunch and pray for the end of the day. I make my way towards my car when I notice a familiar set of blonde locks.

"Why are you ignoring me?" she asks.

"Why are you ignoring me?" I repeat.

"You walked away from me, wouldn't answer my texts, and didn't even come to lunch," she says.

"I was busy," I say and she scoffs.

"Like hell you were," she says.

"I'm not the one with the problem," I spit back.

"What's my problem?" she asks.

"You dismissing me when I tried to kiss you," I say.

"I'm sorry, but…" I interrupt her.

"You don't do PDA," I finish for her.

"No it's not that, it's just that my mom is also on the school board and it's a small town. I'm not out yet, I don't even know if I'm gay and I don't like people talking about me. I have a reputation," she says.

"I was feeling sorry for you for a moment, but now I know where I stand when it comes to your stupid reputation," I say. "Where can you take that when you're in college?" I ask and she open and closes her mouth like a fish.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"I don't need your apologies, I just need you to get the hell out of my way because my underarms are numb and my leg is throbbing and I'm about to explode," I say through clenched teeth and she moves. I take off before she has the chance to even look up and I find myself in the comfort of my own room. Why are things so complicated? What's so important about her damn reputation? I mean I don't have classes with her and the only time I see her is before/after school and during lunch. She seems pretty damn normal to me. I receive a bunch of texts from her that night but I ignore them all.

"Emily dinner's ready," Ezra says outside my door.

"I'm not hungry," I say and go back to flipping through my iPod. I fall asleep listening to music. The same happens the next morning and I'm staring at my locker alone for the first time. I'm listening to the whispers.

"I hear she's on a warpath today," a brunette says.

"I wonder what happened. She was fine this entire week and now she's back to being an Ice Queen," a blonde says and I wonder who they're talking about. Next I see Alison make her way through school and people part ways for her. I see her tearing down an innocent kid.

"Watch where you're going Hermy the Hermaphrodite," she spits and I'm shocked by her cold persona. She reminds me of Joanna, except with Joanna, she was a bitch but not like this and she pretended to be an angel. But with Alison, she was actually pure or so I thought.

"And look if it isn't Mona the loser," she says and I hear snickers from jocks. I'm so done with this bitchy shit and I look at her in disgust. We come into contact and I shake my head before hobbling to my class. I can't believe what I just saw. Was that the real Alison? Is this the reputation she so badly would give us up for? She was so cruel to those kids. _She's just like Joanna_. The voice in my head kept telling me. I decide to go to the library for lunch and today of all days the girls follow me. It was practically empty save for the librarian so it was the perfect opportunity to talk.

"Hey Em," Spencer says.

"Hey Emily," Aria says.

"What's up Em?" Hanna asks.

"Hey guys," I respond.

"Where have you been all week?" they ask.

"I've been busy catching up on work," I lie.

"What classes are you taking?" they ask and I hand them my schedule.

"Whoa tough schedule," Aria says.

"I have some of these classes, we can study sometime," Spencer said smiling that she found a new study partner.

"Yeah sure," I say quietly before returning to my book.

"What happened with you and Ali?" Hanna asks and she receives slaps on the arm. "What? Everyone was thinking it!"

"Nothing happened, we're just in two different places," I say and then I'm left alone with Spencer.

"I take it you saw Alison in action today," she says and I nod. "I know that you know that's not who she is. The person that she is when she's with you is the real her. She just has trouble facing her emotions. Her parents aren't exactly a walk in the park," Spencer says.

"That's no excuse for tearing down other people, besides we had our issues before I saw her today," I said.

"That's true, but what happened before today?" she asks and I might as well tell her.

"Yesterday when I tried to kiss her she totally blew me off. Then she confronted me for ignoring her all day and her excuse for not reciprocating at first was because she wasn't out and I understood and it turned into something about her reputation," I say getting angry at that lame excuse.

"I shouldn't be telling you this, but her parents practically push her to be the best, to be a cold hearted person. If you met her mom and saw how she was raised, you'd understand. It's not only you with family issues," she says and I realize that I never asked about Alison's family in depth. It's true I'm not the only one with family problems and that Alison deserves my support, just like she gave it to me unconditionally yesterday and everyday before that. I take out my phone and text her.

**Meet me at my house at 6, we need to talk.**

** Okay. **

Soon the end of the day comes and I sigh in relief. I make it home by 4 and decide to finish up the English paper and start some assignments that are due in a few weeks. I put on my headphones and drown out the world. I didn't hear anyone knock, instead I saw blonde hair in the corner of my eye and I turned to see it was Alison.

"Hi," she says softly.

"Who are you?" I ask and she looks confused.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"Who's the real Alison? The one that I saw today or the one who I made love to?" I ask. " I really can't handle another bitchy girlfriend. I already experienced that with Joanna and I won't go through it again. I don't like to see you tear defenseless people down, it's not enjoyable".

"The one you made love to is the real me," she says.

"Tell me about your home life," I say and I see her tense.

"My mom is a real estate agent and my father is a software designer. I have an older brother," she says.

"Tell me about your home life," I repeat.

"My brother is a recovering drug addict. My mother is a cold-hearted bitch who doesn't love me or anyone for that matter, she had an affair with Spencer's dad and that's how my brother was born, Spencer doesn't know anything. My dad spends all his time on business trips to get away from her and I'm left all alone with her," she says with tears spilling from her eyes.

"Has she ever hit you?" I ask hesitantly, terrified of the answer.

"No never," she says with a quiver and I know she lied but I don't push. "She just tells me that the only thing that will save me in life is my reputation and she tells me I need to be the best, and how to eliminate threats and just things I really don't care about. I hate what she's made me into. I used to be so carefree and loving," she says looking distant and I bring her chin close and kiss her tears away.

"I will protect you," I say. "I promise".

"How can you promise that?" she asks.

"Because I see the person you want to be. I see the real you, the one who isn't guarded and always tearing people down. I've experienced first hand what you're capable of and how easily it is to love you and receive your love. You're the sweetest person I know With Joanna, she was a bitch pretending to be a good, but you're an angel pretending to be evil for the sake of you mother's love and affection. But you don't need it anymore because you have me now. When I'm with you I feel like I'm touching some sort of innocence in you, like no one's ever experienced before," I whisper and the tears roll down her face and I hold her for hours as she cries onto my chest. She falls asleep on my chest and her weight feels so good on top of me. I rub circles on her back and trace patterns on her arms and legs with my other fingers.


	6. Deal

The rest of the week went by quickly and I had yet to get to the financial reports. Today was Friday and that meant we left for my grandfather's Hampton house. My nerves were on a high level as always when I see him. It was lunchtime with the girls and they were asking for details about the three-day weekend.

"So what's going to happen?" Spencer asked, of course she would, she's a planner.

"You'll meet me at my house by 5, the boys are already there and we have a driver to take us to the private airstrip. It should take us an hour and a half to get there. Oh and dress a little formal," I say.

"Why?" Hanna asks.

"Grandfather's rules," I say trying to finish up my last report.

"You're not going to eat?" Alison asked.

"Not hungry," I reply not looking up in their direction. "I have to go finish this up guys, I'll see you after school," I say before kissing Alison and waving them goodbye. I had five more reports to do and my nerves weren't helping. I settled in the library and continued typing. Thankfully I had finished most of my homework that's due in the next few weeks because I was sure my grandfather was going to keep me busy. Soon I heard the bell signaling my AP Microeconomics class and I closed my computer. I made my way into the class and saw the teacher beaming at me.

"Congrats Emily, you aced that last test," he said in a happy tone.

"Thanks," I reply and sit down. A girl leans over towards me.

"I'm so jealous," she says smiling.

"Why?" I ask.

"No one ever gets A's in this class, that was until you," she praised.

"Huh," I replied knowing I had an advantage. Classes were pretty similar and soon it was the end of the day. I came home and saw the guys laid out on the couch playing video games.

"What's up guys?" I asked.

"Nothing much, how was your day?" Caleb asked.

"It was good, got stuff to do," I said before taking off for a shower. I changed into a black button up, black skinny jeans that I had to cut at the knee for my cast and black Sperry shoes. I put on a white black tie then sat down to continue working on the reports. Soon I heard my mom calling for me. I hobbled down the stairs to see the girls there.

"You guys ready?" I asked and they all nodded.

"All right, bye dad, bye mom," I said and they gave Ezra and I a hug and kiss.

"Be safe and have fun," my dad said and we all nodded.

"God Hanna, did you bring your whole closet?" I chuckled as Caleb struggled with her bags.

"You can never be fully prepared," she huffed and we all got into two SUVs. We made it to the airstrip where the private plane was waiting. Ezra helped to carry me up the stairs and I saw Tyler waiting on the plane. After I got comfortable in my chair I pulled out my papers to continue my work. Alison sat next to me and I leaned in for a kiss.

"Hey you look beautiful," I say.

"You look handsome," she says and I smile.

"Why thank you Ms. DiLaurentis," I wink before returning back to my work. I finally managed to finish the last report and let out a sigh.

"Tyler, I'm sending you the last report," I said and he nodded.

"Now I have you all to myself," Alison whispered.

"I wish, I just have to go through the financials really quick, I'm good with numbers," I say and she sighs. "And I'm even better with my hands, I'll show you tonight," I say and she smiles before sitting back in her chair. I returned to the paper and once I got halfway through the numbers I found an anomaly. I had to recheck them when I noticed that a large amount of money was missing from an account. This couldn't be right. How could I miss this? I had to loosen my tie because I felt like it was choking me. I went over the numbers again and notice the same thing. A large withdrawal from an old project was made. $2 million dollars gone! I had to find out who the thief was. This is not how I pictured my weekend going. How was I going to tell my grandfather? How was I going to find out whom this person was? I needed a drink. I waived for the attending Amanda.

"How may I help you Ms. Buchanan?" she asks politely.

"Can I get a whiskey neat?" I ask and she nods. She returns a minute later with a glass and I let the liquid burn my throat. It gives me comfort and a clear head. I know what I need! I need my grandfather's master key. No one else besides family knows he has it. It allows us to keep tabs on our employees. We can check their real estate, family history, criminal background, and financials. I need that key. Soon the plane was landing and I woke Alison from her sleep.

"Hey sleeping beauty," I say and kiss her on her temple and she stirs.

"I fell asleep?" she asks.

"Yeah, you must've been tired," I smile. "Come on time to go," I say and I pack up my computer and papers. "Tyler, as soon as we get into the estate, I need you in my office," I say seriously and he nods. Ezra comes over to pick me up and take me down the stairs while Tyler is holding my crutches and his million papers.

"Thanks Ez," I say as he sets me down.

"No problem Em," he replies before going to help Aria with her luggage. We get into two SUVs and head towards the estate. It takes twenty minutes to get there. Once we reach the gate the guard comes to the window and asks to see ID before he sees me and lets us go. Once we pull up outside I hear gasps from the car.

"This place is huge!" Spencer says.

"It's so beautiful," Aria says.

"I wonder if you can get lost in there," Hanna says. Alison just squeezes my hand and smile I guess sensing my nervousness. We get out of the car and I hobble towards the door and press a button.

"Hello?" the person asks.

"It's Emily," I say and I hear a buzz and the doors open. Once we're all in the foyer, they set their bags down.

"Penelope, can you tell the staff to take their bags and set up their rooms," I ask her politely.

"Of course Ms. Buchanan," she says.

"Hello by the way," I say and she smiles brightly.

"Nice to see you at home," she says and I nod. I've known her since I was born. I hear footsteps come down the stairs and look to see that it's my grandfather. He has on a suit I guess that is designed by Yves Saint Laurent, his favorite. His once blonde hair has turned salt and pepper hair with icy blue eyes. His shoulders are broad and he stands at 6'3" towering over most. The way he walks and talks demands respect and attention, and all eyes are on him as he makes his way across the floor.

"Oh Emmy," he says wrapping me in a hug that I can't return.

"Hello grandfather," I say as he's backing up.

"Ezra," he nods at him and holds out his hand and Ezra shakes it before being pulled into a hug and slapped on a back.

"Hi grandfather," he says stiffly.

"How was Australia?" he asks.

"It was great, I love it there," he smiles.

"Good," he replies. "How are you boys?" he asks shaking their hands.

"Good Mr. Buchanan," Caleb and Toby reply.

"Who are these lovely girls?" he asks me.

"These are my friends, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Alison," I say and he shakes their hands softly.

"Nice to meet you," he says and they reply pleasantries before his attention is focused on me. He waves at people to come forward and they surround me.

"Emily, we're having a dinner party with a few people from work," he explains and I nod before a person takes off my shirt and tie, as another grabs my crutches. Thank God I had on a tank top. They put me in a new white Oxford shirt and then go for my pants. Once they have them off another slips dress pants on me while I clutch to a pair of shoulders trying to balance myself. They cut the right leg at the knee for my cast. Someone holds out a shoe that looks like Italian leather and places it on my left foot. My grandfather waves them off and they scatter in different directions. He starts to tuck my shirt in.

"There are also a few people here that want to become clients. I need you to work your magic tonight," he says and buttons up my pants. He pulls a purple tie out of his pocket and starts to tie it.

"Grandfather, you know I can tie a tie," I smirk.

"Yeah sure you can, which is why you were choking yourself," he teases.

"Actually, there's something important I needed to talk to you about," I try.

"It will have to wait until after dinner," he says and I nod.

"Okay," I say and scan over all of us.

"Ezra come here," he says and Ezra lets go of Aria's hand and stepping in front of him. He unties his tie and reties it to a perfect Windsor knot. "Perfect," he says and motions for us to follow him into a room that's meant for parties. We walk in and I feel all eyes on the chatter stops and us.

"These are my grandchildren and their friends, they will be joining us," he says and they all smile.

"You see that woman in the corner?" he whispers in my ear and I nod. "She comes from a lot of money and we would love to manage it. Work your magic. We've been wanting to open up an account management company in Europe, especially Paris and we need a big name like hers," he explains.

"What's her name?" I ask.

"Marissa Bisset," he says.

"I've heard of her, her family owns a lot of sports teams in Europe. I didn't know she was in the states," I say surprised.

"Yeah, she moved here a couple months ago and looking for someone to manage her money and get involved in projects," he said happily before pushing me towards her. I see caterers surrounding my friends before I mouth to Alison that I'm sorry and she smiles reassuringly. I approach the woman with a smile.

"Hi, you must be Ms. Bisset," I say charmingly.

"Ms. Bisset is for my mother, call me Marissa," she says with a smile.

"I'm," I say but she interrupts.

"Emily Buchanan, I know who you are," she smirks.

"Well if you know who I am, then you know what I want," I say taking a seat next to her.

"Aren't you a little young to be discussing business?" she asks and I chuckle.

"No offense but I've been practically groomed to run the business since birth. I know the ins and out of my grandfather's company," I say confidently and her eyebrows rise as she nods her head.

"So how are you going to convince me?" she asks.

"Convince you of what?" I ask.

"To have your company manage my money," she says.

"There's no need for convincing. You being here tells me that you've made your decision, you just want reassurance," I say and she nods for me to continue. "So I'm going to reassure you that your money is safe with us".

"How can I trust that? Your grandfather is getting old, he won't be in charge much longer," she says.

"Which is why you won't be talking to him, you'd be talking to me. I'm next in line to take over the company once I graduate from Harvard Business School," I say.

"How old are you?" she asks.

"17," I respond and she chuckles.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

"You just sound really mature for your age, and you have your whole life planned out," she says.

"I don't really have much choice and things in my life forced me to grow up fast," I say.

"Can we go somewhere private?" she asks and I hesitate.

"Sure," I relent and take her to my study.

"How did you hurt your leg?" she asks.

"I got hit by a cab driver in New York," I say.

"Ouch," she responds.

"Yeah, but let's not talk personal stuff, its about business," I say seriously.

"But I need to know if I can trust you before I let a 17 year old handle my money," she says and I nod in understanding.

"Take a seat," I say and hobble to the other side of my desk. "What do you want to know?" I ask.

"Do you plan on taking over your grandfather's company?" she asks.

"Of course," I say.

"What if you change your mind?" she asks.

"If you knew my grandfather, you'd know there's no escaping family tradition," I say.

"How come your brother isn't taking over?" she asks.

"You mean how come my grandfather isn't trusting a boy to run his company?" I clarify and she nods.

"Because my grandfather doesn't see gender. He just wants to leave his company in the hands of family and whom he trusts. My brother is more interested in liberal arts schools and English. Would you trust him with your money?" I ask and she shakes her head. "If you let my grandfather's company manage your money, I promise that we will cater to you," I say. "I know the best person, his name is Ryan Andrews, he's experience and skilled, been with the company for 15 years".

"I don't want him managing my money," she says.

"Then who do you want?" I ask.

"I want you," she says and I chuckle.

"I'm still in high school and don't have the proper degree to handle money," I explain.

"I know but you have what he doesn't, you have first hand experience from your grandfather and he's told me that you're a genius with numbers. So if I'm going to agree to let you manage my funds, I want it to be you," she says.

"Okay, I'll have to talk to my grandfather, but I think it should be okay," I say and she smiles.

"Then you have yourself a deal," she says and we shake hands.

"We should get back to the party," I say and we head out of the office to see that they're no longer in the room. Everyone is at the table and two seats across from each other are open. I take the seat next to Alison as my grandfather is at the head of the table. My grandfather scoots closer to me.

"How did it go?" he asks.

"She said she will agree only if I'm the one to manage her funds, someone told her that I'm a genius with numbers," I say the last part sarcastically and a huge smile erupts on his face. I lean back in my chair as a glass of whiskey is set on the table for me. I look across and see that Marissa is staring at me. My grandfather tapping his wine glass with a fork interrupts our gaze.

"Excuse me, I'd like to make a toast and announcement," he says and everyone quiets. "I'd like to announce that we just signed our first client for our management company, Marissa Bisset," he says happily and an eruption of congratulations spreads. "It's all thanks to the hard work of my granddaughter, Emily, so this is a toast to her," he says and raises his glass. I raise my glass and see that Marissa is raising hers as well and winks at me. I feel Alison grab my hand under the table and I look at her and smile before she kisses me quickly before anyone notices. We go back into our separate conversations throughout the entire dinner. Once its over and people are making their way out. I notice Marissa hanging back so I hobble over to her.

"Not ready to leave yet?" I joke.

"I realized that I have to get your contact information," she says and I nod. She hands me her cell phone and I plug in all my information as well as my assistant's.

"I put in my number and my assistant's number for you to call in case you need anything or have an emergency," I say.

"I will definitely be in contact," she says.

"Where do you live?" I ask.

"I go back and forth between New York and the Hamptons, why?" she asks.

"Because I'm going to need you to sign some documents and then we'll need to have a meeting to discuss you financial history and what you need from me and what your goals are for your money," I explain and she nods.

"Okay sounds great. I'm actually leaving for a month to Paris, so if we can get this done this weekend, that'll be great," she says.

"Hmm, that should be fine, I guess. I'll start the paperwork right away," I say and she nods.

"Have a good night Emily," she says and leans forward to hug me and kiss me on the cheek.

"You too Marissa," I say and she leaves. My grandfather startles me when he speaks up from behind me and I notice that it was just she and I in the foyer.

"You know I wouldn't be opposed to you mixing business with pleasure with her," he chuckles.

"Not funny," I say and he makes his way towards me.

"I heard about your break up with Joanna, and I just have to say, it's about time," he says.

"I knew you never liked her," I said.

"For good reason, she was a horrible person," he said and I agreed.

"So now that you're on the market, how about you talk to Ms. Bisset, or as you call her, Marissa?" he suggests.

"Actually, I'm not on the market anymore. I'm dating Alison," I say and he looks shocked.

"The blonde?" he asks and I nod. "What is she like?"

"You have all weekend to get to know her," I say. "Actually there's something I need from you".

"What is it?" he asks.

"I need the key," I say cryptically but recognition falls on his face.

"For what?" he asks.

"We have a thief," I say and his face turns into stone. "Let's go to my office".


	7. Attack

My grandfather led me into my study and sat down in a chair while I sat behind my desk. His silence both terrified and calmed me.

"Explain," he says.

"Remember those documents you sent Tyler to give me," I say and he nods. "Well after I finished the reports, I was working on the financials on the plane. I went over the numbers 5 times and I noticed that there was a large withdrawal of $2 million dollars from one of our old projects," I say.

"Let me see," he says and I hand him over the papers and he sees the numbers I circled and put question marks next to. The silence is now killing me.

"I don't think this is their first time," I say.

"How can you be so sure?" he asks. "You always look at the financials every month," he says and I curse myself for not checking carefully.

"This person seems skilled and might have gotten cocky, thinking that we wouldn't notice. I'm going to check over the financial reports for the past few months and see if there's a pattern. But I also need the key so I can see if any one of our employees mysteriously got a lump sum of cash," I say and he nods.

"I knew this day would come, I just didn't think it would be so soon," he says and I look in confusion. He pulls out a black chip from his wallet. "This is your own. It can be placed in the computer and access all the information you need. It can also copy a person's hardware and everything that you computer geeks talk about," he says and I laugh.

"Thanks grandfather," I say knowing that he's trusting me more.

"It's time that I start treating you like the next CEO and less like my granddaughter when it comes to business," he says. "You've proven yourself of your trust and competency and I couldn't be more proud," and hearing those words makes my heart soar.

"Thank you so much," I say and he nods. "What are we going to do once I find the thief?"

"You're going to give me the name and I will take care of it," he says.

"Are we going to turn them into the police?" I ask.

"That's nothing you should be worried about," he says calmly.

"Grandfather, if I'm going to take over the business, I need to know how to handle these certain situations," I say firmly.

"Okay fine, but it needs to be discreet," he says and I nod.

"Are you going to bed?" I ask.

"When are you heading to bed?" he asks.

"After I finish finding going through those financials and finding out who the thief is, and getting all the paperwork set up for Ms. Bisset," I say.

"You remind me of me when I was first starting out," he says at the door and I smile because I love the comparison.

"There's no one I look up to more than you," I say truthfully and he beams before exiting the room. I return back to the financials starting six months ago and I notice a little skimming of money, a couple thousand here and there. Then I notice the person getting riskier when a hundred thousand dollar withdrawal was made. For Christ's sake! How could I not catch this? I was about to use the key when I heard a knock on the door. I place it in my drawer quickly.

"Come in," I say.

"Sorry to bother you Ms. Buchanan, but a Ms. Alison DiLaurentis is looking for you," a staff member says.

"Oh okay, you can send her in here," I say before he takes off. I decide to start going through the documents I need Marissa to sign and print them out. I double-check everything when I hear footsteps enter my office. I look up to see Alison.

"Hey beautiful," I say smiling at her.

"Hey handsome, I've barely seen you all night," she says with a pout.

"I know, just been working," I say and she starts looking around the office.

"So this is where you took her," she says more than asks.

"Yeah," I confirm and I see a sliver of jealousy cross her face. "Are you jealous?" I chuckle.

"Of course not," she says unconvincingly.

"Yes you are, but you have nothing to worry about. I only have eyes for you," I say.

"And she has eyes for you. I noticed her staring at you," she says and looks down at her hands.

"Oh? So that's why you kissed me at the table," I say as realization comes into mind.

"I was just telling her you're mine and you're off limits," she says and pushes a finger into my chest making me stumble back a bit and we laugh.

"Want to prove that?" I ask flirtatiously giving her the look. She comes around the table and I back my chair away as she sits on the table. My hands rake over her thighs in appreciation before I'm tugging her to sit on top of me. Once she's straddling my hips I lean up to kiss her. She licks my lips and I give her entrance. I love her aggressive side even though she hasn't shown it until now. Our tongues battle for dominance and my hands climb up her dress. Her hands start to open my shirt before she ends up ripping the buttons off. I unzip her dress and she stands to step out of it revealing her beautifully shaped breasts. She's wearing lace black panties that hug to her hips. She rids me of my shirt and tank top before sitting on her knees to unbuckle my pants. Soon I'm out of them and left in my boxers before she's tugging at them and takes off her own panties after. I grab her and pull her in for a kiss. I want to take control but she stops me.

"Let me be in control for once," she says and it's harder than I expected to give up control.

"Okay," I say breathlessly. She continues kissing me before moving to my neck and sucking on my pulse point. It has me arching out the chair. Her hand ghosts over the place I need her most. "Please," I whisper before her lips move further south. We've never done this before, we'll I have on her, not the other way around and I stop her. "Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yes, more sure about this than anything," she says and I let her continue because her lips feel too good on my skin. My thoughts are incoherent after that when I feel her tongue comes into contact with my clit. I anticipated it and she delivered. She spreads my folds open with her tongue and I'm forced to grab her hair pulling her closer. My legs spread wider and push her down. Moans and her name are escaping my lips. I don't even care if other people can hear. I feel two fingers slip inside me and my back arches and I cry out. "Oh god," I say and my eyes shut. She continues to push in and out of me at a steady rhythm while licking and sucking my clit. It feels amazing and I know that I'm close. "Don't stop," I say in between trying to breathe. She comes up to kiss me roughly and moves her fingers faster before curling and hitting a spot that has me clenching down on her hand. She swallows my screams and moans. I hate the feeling when she takes her fingers out but she sits on top of my lap. I managed to catch my breath quickly and before she can speak I push my chair closer to the desk until her back hits it. I kiss her as my hands trail over her breasts and rub her nipples until they harden. My hands squeeze her hips because she's ticklish and I hear her laugh. Pretty soon I find my thumb rubbing my clit and my index and middle finger teasing her entrance. She's moaning in my ear as my lips are sucking on her neck creating marks.

"Please Em," she begs. My fingers enter her fast and she jumps a little but hand other hand wraps around her back to steady her. I pump in and out of her fast but her hips are falling in synch. "Right there," she says and I smile because I know her body so well. I push my hips into hers to add more pressure and I get the reaction I was hoping for. She's breathing heavier, her walls have become tighter and her legs are quivering. "Oh god Em, don't stop, I'm so close," she encourages. I lean down to capture a nipple in my mouth and bite on it and lick it and she's shaking more so I release it and press down on her clit and curl my fingers while blowing on her nipples. I feel her clench and her wetness spread on my hands. I'm intoxicated by her scent and I feel her walls release my hand. I take it out and place my hands on her thighs. I'm glad that she's so light because she can barely move so I push all my papers and computer out of the way. I pick her up and place her on the desk as I stand on one foot in between her legs. I lay her down while her head is hanging off the table. I climb on top of her ignoring the throbbing in my leg due to elevation change. I kiss my way up to her lips before grinding into her. My hands find her breasts and I keep putting pressure between us. We're so wound up that it won't be long. I feel her hands grip my ass pulling me impossibly closer as the pressure increases. Pretty soon we're out of rhythm and panting but I know just a few more strokes and we're right there. She gives me ass a slap and it was an incredible turn on as I bite on her lip drawing blood and I feel myself crashing into a euphoric state. I collapse on top of her my head buried in her shoulder as we try to get out breathing under control.

"Did you?" I ask.

"Yes," she responds and I smile. Once my breathing is back to normal I lift myself off of her and hobble back to my chair. I start to put on my boxers and sports bra while she's slipping on her clothes.

"Are you coming to bed?" she asks and I look at the mess.

"After I clean up and wrap up a few documents, I'll be right there," I say and she nods before stalking off to our bedroom. I reorganize my desk and grab the forms that I need Ms. Bisset to fill out. I grab a manila folder and write her name on the tab so I don't misplace them. I then open up my laptop and take out the key. I slide it into the computer and access it with the codes. I go to the financials portal for all the employees and type in '**recent** **deposits**' and of course there are thousands of hits. So I put in '**recent deposits**' + '**sea brass project' **it narrowed down the search to fifty people who were involved in the project, but that was still too many. So I added '**million**' and put the time frame to this past month. The search narrowed me down to three people. **William Pentamgrass**, **Barry Nichols, and Louis Montgomery. **I knew them all, they had been working for this company for over 20 years and that was impossible. They all had high-ranking positions and a nice size salary, so why be greedy? I looked through William's financials and his seemed to check out minus the occasional withdrawal of a few grand, but his wife always likes to upgrade their home. Nichols' financials had a few red flags because an unusual amount of money was deposited, but it didn't match the exact dates, but he still wasn't ruled out. I moved onto Montgomery's file and saw that he had a clean record. I was going to let his go, but something in my stomach told me not to. I went through his personal information.

**Louis Montgomery**

**Age 62**

**Children: Spencer Montgomery (22), Rose Montgomery (24), and Louis Montgomery Jr. (26)**

**Parents: Franklin Montgomery & Susan Murray**

**Spouse: Carlin Montgomery**

**Property: New York, California, France, and pending in Belarus. **

Why did the parents' names sound so familiar? Why is he buying property in Belarus? That's so out of the ordinary compared to his other homes. I type in **Franklin Montgomery** + **1925 **and it all clicked. Franklin Montgomery was an oil tycoon back in the early 50s-70s. I search through the company files to see if I get a match and of course he was a client of my grandfather's. My grandfather was his advisor and he somehow lost all his money, but this was the proof that I needed. Louis started working for the company in 75; a year after Franklin lost most of his fortune. Was this all about revenge? After 40 years? What's so special about Belarus that he'd want to buy property there? Think! Think! Think.

_"Grandfather what's extradition mean?" I asked at the age of 6._

_ "It means that a country can't prosecute you or legally detain you if you flee to a country that has not signed an extradition treaty," he explains, but six year old me still didn't understand so I shrugged it off. "Why do you ask?"_

_ "Saw it on television," I said and he laughs. "What countries don't have extradition laws with the US?_

_ "I only know a couple, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Maldives, Mali, Bangladesh, Belarus, oh and Madagascar," he says and 6 year old Emily laughs and covers her mouth._

_ "Like the movies! That's why the police won't rescue them," she says while laughing._

_ "Yes like the movie," he chuckles and picks Emily up and starts twirling her around._

That's it! He's going to flee to Belarus and we wouldn't legally be able to bring him back. I print out all the information I found and put it into a folder to bring to my grandfather in the morning. What are we going to do? How are we going to solve this? I'm freaking out and my hands are shaking. This has never happened before and it's my entire fault. If I would've carefully read the financials over instead of thinking that I knew them like the back of my hand. Ugh I'm so stupid for being cocky. Never again will I make that mistake! I open the drawer and see the pill bottle. I really need it. I open the top and pull out two and swallow it while I sit back and let it take its effect. After five minutes I clean my desk once more and put the folders in a drawer and lock it. I make my way up the stairs and it feels like hours. Once I reach my room I take out my phone and see that it's 2 am. I open the door and hobble in trying to be as quiet as possible when I see that Alison is now asleep. She has on a see-through nightgown and I see the spaghetti strap on her right arm has fallen to her shoulder. I take off my clothes and I'm left in my boxers and sports bra. I lay my crutches against the bedpost as I try to get under the covers. I lay flat on my back because of the cast. I put my left arm behind my head as I stare at the ceiling. I can't fall asleep because of everything on my mind. I feel Alison stir as she turns over and cuddle up to me. Her head rests on my chest and arm wraps around my waist. I kiss the top of her head, but still can't seem to turn my mind off.

"What has you up till this hour?" she asks sleepily.

"I thought you were asleep?" I ask.

"I can feel your mind going a thousand miles per second," she replies now looking up at me.

"Just business," I say vaguely.

"Want to talk about it?" she asks.

"No, just go back to sleep," I say but she doesn't budge.

"That wasn't really a question," she says.

"There's a thief in the company. He's been stealing for who knows how long," I say.

"So why is it keeping you up if you know who did it?" she asks.

"Because it's my responsibility to check over the financials of the company. I should've noticed it a lot sooner. My grandfather trusted me," I say.

"And he still does, people make mistakes," she soothes.

"I just feel shitty. I didn't do my job right. I got cocky because I've always been good with numbers and how will he trust me to run his company if I can't even catch a thief?" I try to reason in my head.

"Babe calm down. You're still in high school; you're still learning your job. He's given you something simple and if he continues and you're duties increase then he trusts you. Look at what you did today. You got the very first client for a new company he's building. You have his genes. You'll learn," she says.

"I know I just feel…" I say.

"Shitty," she completes and we chuckle. "Leave it for tomorrow, just relax for now," she says and starts to trace patterns on my abs and I feel my body relaxing at her touch.

"That feels good," I say in a yawn and she chuckles. My eyes start to get heavy and soon everything turns dark. When I wake up I can't remember my dream but I know it was pleasant because I have a smile on my face. I look down and see blonde hair all over my torso. I press a kiss into her head.

"Morning beautiful," I say.

"Morning Em," she says and looks up to peck me on the lips. We hear a knock on the door.

"Come in," I say and a staff member walks in.

"Your grandfather would like for you two to join him for breakfast," he says and I nod.

"Thank you," I respond and he goes away. "Want to take a shower together?"

"Oh definitely," she smiles and I go through my morning routine of tying plastic around my cast. After our shower she puts on a nice cream-colored summer dress.

"Em, can you zip me up?" she asks and I nod. She walks over to me and turns her back. I lean forward and kiss her in the middle of her back and move upward as I zip it up. I hear her moans and I smile.

"Can you pick out my clothes?" I ask as she hands me a pair of boxers and sports bra. I slip them on as she goes in the closet. She comes out with a pair of black boy shorts and black polo shirt.

"No grandfather doesn't like polo shirts while doing business," I say and shake my head as she returns to pick out an oxford shirt. She comes out with a black Ralph Lauren stripped oxford. I slip it on and roll up the sleeves.

"Where are your shoes?" she asks and I point to another closet. "Huge closet dedicated to shoes and sneakers," she observes. She comes out with black Sperry shoes.

"Perfect," I say and slip on the left shoe.

"I know it's your favorite color," she says and I nod with a smile.

"I love black so much, but how did you know?" I ask.

"Oh only because you wear it everyday," she says and we both laugh. We make our way downstairs and see that everyone is at the table talking with my grandfather.

"I have to go to my office really quick," I say and I hobble to it while she goes to the dinning room. I open up the cabinet and take out the file folders. I go back to the dinning room.

"Nice of you to join us Em," my grandfather stands and kisses me on my head and sits back down.

"This is for you," I say putting down the Montgomery file beside his plate. A staff member fills my plate with French toast, bacon and eggs and pours me a glass of orange juice that I hope is laced with vodka. I take a sip and nod happily to the staff member who smiles back. I see my grandfather flipping through the folder and his lips are pursed tightly. He's going to explode in 3…2…1.

"Dammit!" he yells making everyone except me to jump at the table. He gets up and stalks over to his liquor collect before bringing two glasses over. "Over 40 years," he says heartbrokenly.

"I know grandfather. I didn't want to believe it either until I saw the connection," I say.

"What's the connection? I didn't get that far," he says.

"Does Franklin Montgomery ring a bell?" I ask and he nods taking a sip.

"Yeah, well that's his son," I say and he coughs, I guess the liquid went down the wrong pipe.

"Impossible, I would've noticed," he said.

"Not necessarily. You were young and just starting out. You didn't have all that personal information on your employee," I reason.

"So was this revenge?" he asks.

"I don't know, but you need to tell me what happened between you and Franklin later," I say and he nods.

"You deserve to know the truth Emily," he says. "I'm so proud of you".

"But why? It was my job to check the financials and I can assume that he's been doing it longer than six months," I say.

"You made a mistake, but at least you recognized it," he says.

"We need to act fast. He's buying property in Belarus," I say and I see him clenching at the glass so hard that it breaks.

"So he thinks he can steal from me? From what my father built and run away?" he says angrily before leaving the table. At that moment, my grandmother walks in. She's a small Filipino woman, but she looks great for her age. She barely has any wrinkles; her hair is still black with the exception of a few grey hairs. She's quite skinny, she has olive skin similar to mine. Her lips are thin and pink. She plays more of the referee between grandfather and Ezra.

"Hello darlings," she says making a grand appearance.

"Hi grandma," I say and she comes over to kiss my cheek.

"How's my granddaughter? I heard about your accident," she says.

"I'm well," I say.

"Oh Ezra, you've grown so much," she gushes and goes to wrap Ezra in a tight hug. They've always been close whereas it's my grandfather and I. I'm nervous about his reaction. I knew he'd be upset but I didn't expect it to spike my anxiety level. I guess I was having a delayed reaction because I could feel my breath become out of synch. I feel Alison put her hand on mine and now they feel steady.

"Are you alright?" she asks and I shake my head unable to talk. The fork falls out of my now sweaty hands turning all attention on me. I feel the anger rising out of nowhere. I was just okay a minute ago and I hate this feeling of being out of control.

"Em," I see Ezra next to me in a second. "What's going on?" he asks.

"Nothing," I finally say before rushing off to my office and locking the door. I make my way to my desk sloppily and unlock the drawer. I pull out two pills and swallow them dry because I'm so used to taking them. I lean on my crutches and feel the effect of them taking over. My breathing starts to slow and I close my eyes for a few minutes. I unlock the door to see everyone waiting outside.

"Are you okay?" Ezra jumps at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just needed space," I say and avoid their gazes


	8. Dreams

After coming out of my office, Ezra and I took the group downstairs to a hang out area. Caleb and Hanna flocked to the billiards, surprisingly that was something Hanna excelled in. Finally someone can beat his ass! Of course Ezra was showing him the book collection on the opposite side of the room. Toby and Spencer were locked in conversation about politics, BORING! I look to Ali and I see she's smiling at me.

"Want to get out of here?" I suggest.

"Please," she says and I chuckle before tugging on her hand. I hobble about 20 feet to a glass door that lets us enter another room. "What's this place?"

"My grandmother's prayer room," I say.

"What does she practice?" she asks.

"Islam," I say.

"Where are you from?" she asks.

"America," I say and she pushes my shoulder lightly and gives me a stare. "My grandmother is from the Philippines, along with my mom's parents".

"Do you talk to your mom's parents?" she asks.

"Yeah I visit them every year," I say.

"Where do they live?" she asks before folding her legs to sit down.

"Don't sit on that!" I say and she gets up quickly. "Sorry, it's just that you don't sit on it without praying," I apologize.

"Do you practice Islam?" she asks.

"I'm not too religious, but I join her sometimes in prayer to help purify myself and keep a sane mind. It actually helps," I reply.

"Can you teach me?" she asks and I look at her curiously.

"Are you religious?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"My grandparents are devout Catholics, but my parents sort of left that alone," she says and I nod. I hobble to a cupboard against the left wall and I open it to take out two prayer outfits. I handed Alison the mint blue one that just so happens to bring out her eyes, while I settled for the black one my grandmother made by hand.

"You need to undress and put this on," I say as I lower myself to the floor carefully. I begin to take off my shirt when I see her already down to panties and a bra. Once I'm in boxers and a sports bra, I see her struggling to put it on and I smile to myself. It takes me little effort to stand up on my crutches since I'm used to them now and I slip on the prayer outfit. "Come here," I say seeing her struggle. I help to pull it over her head. "Go in there and get the two Hijabs," I say and point to the second shelf of the cupboard where there are two Hijabs matching the prayer outfit. She tries to put it on but I have to stop her.

"We have to perform Wudu before we can put them on," I say and she looks confused. "Get that bowl and fill it with water from the sink," I say and grab four cups. Two I fill with water. After the bowl is filled she brings it over to me. "Put it on the floor and sit on your knees," I say before doing the same action a bit slower since I haven't been in this position before with a cast. "Do what I do and repeat after me," I say and she nods. "Bismillah".

"Bismillah," she repeats and I smile before dipping my hand in water and wash my palm from my fingertip to my wrist. I do that three times start with my right hand and she follows. Next I put the cup to my lips and rinse my mouth out before spitting it into another cup and we do this three times. Then I grab water from the bowl and wash my face. She follows again and we do this two more times. After that I grab my right arm and wash it starting from my fingertips to my elbow and we repeat this three times. After this I lean forward letting my hair fall and massage the water through my hair and she does the same. I sit back onto my butt and pull my left foot and wash from my toes to the ankle. She's about to do the same before I stop her.

"Start with your right," I intervene and she nods mutely and we do this an extra two times. After this I get on my knees and she follows. "You don't have to repeat, just listen".

"Ashhadu an la ilaha illal-lahu wahdahu la shareeka lah, wa-ashhadu anna Muhammadan AAabduhu warasooluh," I say (I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, alone without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger).

"Now what?" she asks.

"Now we pray," I smile. I grab the Hijab and wrap it around her head and fasten mine. I crawl towards the Sajjāda and roll it up. "Get that for me," I say and point towards a black Sajjāda in the cupboard. After rolling that one up I hand it to Alison to put in the cupboard. "Put the bowl and cups in the sink," I say and wait for her to return to my side. After she sits on her knees I roll the Sajjāda before us. It's a beautiful black rug filled with golden patterns. I got it on a trip to the Philippines. I crawl onto the Sajjāda and we're already facing the Qibla. I look down at my watch and see that it is approaching noon.

"What are we doing?" she asks.

"We're waiting until noon passes," I say looking at her and smile. We're interrupted by the familiar voice of my grandmother entering. She nods because we're not really allowed to talk. She goes to the sink and performs the ritual in half the time it took us. She takes her place beside Alison.

"أنت تؤدي الصلاة اليوم" my grandmother says (You lead the prayer today). I nod before going onto the five prayers. After what seemed like minutes, the prayer is coming to an end. By this point Alison has been repeating all my actions well. I turn my head to the right and say, "As Salam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu," (The angel who records your good deeds is to this side). I turn my head to the left and say, "As Salam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu," (The angel who records your wrongful deeds is to this side). After that I see my grandmother stand and grab my crutches for me as Alison stands. After I am standing, my grandmother rolls up the Sajjāda. She walks over to a door and motions for us to follow. We enter the mini room that has a table set up with chairs and this looks more for entertainment than prayer. She's never bought me in here before, so I'm slightly shocked.

"Sit please," she says in her Filipino accent that has yet to leave despite being in the country for decades. I find it endearing that she can hold on to her piece of home for so long. I bow before taking a seat and Alison follows the action. "How are you feeling?" she asks staring at me.

"Relaxed," I say.

"You know you should pray more," she points out and it takes everything from rolling my eyes playfully because she always says this, but I know what would happen if I did. My grandmother does not tolerate disrespect of any kind. Out of the two she's the strict one even though she appears sweet and angelic.

"I know grandma, I just don't have time," I say lamely.

"Nonsense, you have time," she says firmly and I nod and look down in shame. "So what is your name?" she asks looking at Alison.

"Alison," she replies shyly.

"Pretty name," she smiles and Alison blushes.

"Thank you," she says.

"أود أن اسأل من لك، ولكن سيكون من غير المناسب للموقع الحالي," she says (I would ask who she is to you, but it would be inappropriate for our current location). The comment is a slight dig, but I don't take it to heart anymore. She's really come around, and I know it was hard to accept especially being a devout Muslim. Homosexuality and religion never seemed to mix, but I push the thought out of my head.

"تعرف لها في وقت لاحق," I respond (Get to know her later) and she nods. We sip on our tea in silence before I finish my tea I ask her, "Maaari naming ma-excused?" (May we be excused?).

"Maaari mo," she says and I squeeze Alison's hand letting her know it's time to go. She grabs my crutches and I help myself up before we exit the mini room. Once we're back in the prayer room I start to undress, as does she. I fold them neatly and hand it off to her to place in the cupboard while I'm struggling to change back into my clothes. A few minutes later we emerge into the hang out area to see everyone has already left. I take my seat at the bar that grandfather built for him and private guests.

"That was fun," Alison comments bringing me out of my head.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I smile.

"So what did your grandmother say to you?" she asks.

"When?" I say acting oblivious until she gives me a stare telling me to stop bullshitting. "She just said that she wants to get to know you," I lie hoping she would buy it.

"Stop lying and tell me the truth," she says firmly.

"She said she would ask if you were more than a friend, but it's not exactly the right place to and I told her to get to know you better later," I say.

"Is she not okay with gay people?" she asks nervously.

"She's come around a lot, it's not easy mixing religion and homosexuality, but don't be worried," I smile and lean to give her a kiss.

"How could I not be worried? She's your grandmother," she says losing her breath.

"Because I'm dating you. Besides the one you need a stamp of approval from is my grandfather, I'm closer to him and Ezra is closer to my grandmother. He never liked Joanna and you're a huge improvement. You have nothing to worry about" I say and she nods with apprehension.

"Great, and he's upset," she rolls her eyes thinking about her predicament.

"He'll be fine. Just give him a couple hours and he'll throw back a drink or two and be back to his normal old self," I say with a laugh. "Come on let's get out of here," I say tugging on her hand while I stand on my crutches.

"Where are you taking me?" she asks. We make our way out of the cave and I run into Tyler making his way towards the dinning room.

"Tyler, grab the folder on my desk marked Ms. Bisset. I need her to sign those documents and set up a meeting for tomorrow with her," I say and he nods.

"Aren't you coming to lunch?" he asks.

"No I'm taking Alison out," I say and he takes off for my office while I hobble to the front door. "Penelope!" I yell and she comes out to the foyer immediately.

"Yes Ms. Buchanan," she says.

"I need the keys to my car," I say and she nods going off to retrieve the keys for me. She comes back.

"The car is in the garage," she says and I hobble off towards the garage.

"Wait outside for me," I tell Alison and continue down the path. I make my way down the steps to the garage and see my baby. I flip the switch for the garage to open when I get in the car and back out.

"That is so you," Alison laughs.

"Who wouldn't love a special edition Lamborghini?" I ask and she continues to chuckle.

"Must've cost you a pretty penny," she admires the car while her fingers grace over the exterior.

"Ahh not a dent," I say smugly. "Hop in," I wink. She opens the car door and gets in the passenger seat.

"What kind is it?" she asks for the first time.

"Veneno Roadster," I say and take off down the pathway.

"When did you get her?" she says with a smirk.

"How do you know it's a her?" I retort.

"Of course this is a her, you wouldn't be riding a boy," she raises her brow but her smirk betrays her seriousness. "What's her name?" she pokes my side making me laugh. "Is Emily Fields ticklish?" she says feigning shock and laughing before pocking me again.

"Stop!" I laugh.

"What's her name?" she says as the breeze cascades through our hair.

"Scarlet," I relent.

"Why that name?" she asks.

"Look at her! She's fiery red, a spit fire, what other name is there?" I say confidently.

"How about Alison?" she asks as we pull up to a vacant lot with the beach behind it.

"Nah," I laugh.

"What is this place?" she asks.

"It's mine," I reply before getting out of the car and grab my crutches from her side.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"It's mine. I bought the land and the beach behind it is private to a certain extent. I love running on the beach. I just haven't had the will or time to build a house," I say.

"What do you want the house to look like?" she asks.

"I just want a moderate size house. Maybe 6 bedrooms 4 bathrooms, I like the cottage look," I say.

"No mansion?" she asks her eyes widening and a smirk plastered on her face.

"No! Absolutely not," I laugh. "Don't get me wrong, I like my grandfather's home, but that's too much space. I want to be able to hear my children trying to sneak out of the house. I don't like too much space, that's what I've mostly had growing up. That's why I like the house in Rosewood a lot," I say honestly.

"So you want kids," she says.

"Yeah I do, but not biological," I say and her eyebrows meet.

"Why not?" she asks.

"I have my reasons," I say vaguely and give her a look to let her know to leave the conversation alone.

"So you want to get married?" she asks.

"What's with the inquisition?" I smirk.

"Just wondering," she says.

"Mhmm," I say knowing what she's doing. "Yes, I want to get married and have kids," I say. "What about you?" I ask.

"Yes, I want all of those things. I want to be different from my parents," she says sadly.

"I know you'll be a great mother," I smile before kissing the top of her head. We continue walking until we meet the sand. "Do you have a sock?" I ask and she nods. "Can I borrow one?" she laughs before taking off her shoe and handing me a sock. I sit on the ground and try to put it on my leg, but to no avail, I fail. She chuckles before bending down and putting it on for me. "Thank you," I say and she nods. I bend my left leg to take off my shoe and she wraps my left arm around her shoulder.

"You can't use crutches in the sand," she informs and I want to slap myself in the head.

"Oh right," I say and laugh nervously. I hobble to a spot not too far from the sea and sit up on my hands.

"So why not name your baby Alison?" she asks and I cough.

"What?" I stutter.

"Not your baby, I meant your car," she says and we both chuckle at my misinterpretation.

"Oh right," I say trying to control my thoughts. "Well it's not you," I say.

"Care to elaborate?" she questions after a few moments of silence.

"From your outward appearance, I would easily say you're a Lamborghini. You dress high end, blonde hair, blue eyes, an American dream kind of woman. You have manners, very rich, looks to kill for and sort of a show off or something to show off. But when I got to know the real you. You're this amazingly beautiful, kind soul. You have elegance and grace. Lamborghinis are fast and powerful, expensive and nice to show off. You, you are slow and enticing, sophisticated, and beautiful to admire," I say staring into her eyes.

"So what car would you name after me?" she asks.

"Honestly, my Porsche Cayman GTS," I say.

"Why do you say that?" she asks.

"I may have been mad that my parents sold my Ferrari, but my Porsche is my go to woman. I've had her for two years and I still haven't named her. She's not for show, just for my eyes only," I say.

"How many cars do you have?" she asks.

"Hmm," I say counting.

"Stop! It can't be that many," she pushes me shoulder and I laugh.

"I have six," I say.

"Which ones?" she asks.

"My Lamborghini, my Ferrari, my Porsche 918 Spyder, my Porsche Cayman GTS, my Lexus LFA, and a vintage 1980 Ferrari. I got it from an auction that my grandfather took me to last birthday. I love those things," I say happily.

"Man you really are into sports cars," she comments.

"I love them. I love the rush I get from going fast on an open highway and not knowing where I'm heading," I say.

"Sounds like you speak from experience," she says.

"I wish," I say looking into the ocean longingly. "Do you ever wish you could disappear?" I ask.

"No, do you?" she asks.

"Sometimes. I wish I could pack a bag and leave this all behind. School, business, money and just take off and explore the world," I say honestly. I'd never told that to anyone.

"Don't you have houses in like 50 countries?" she asks curiously.

"I've only really visited countries on business or for schooling. Not much chance to explore cultures when I have meetings every hour," I say.

"I didn't know," she says giving me a sympathetic look.

"It's fine. It's just a dream, ones I cannot afford to have," I say and lean back on my elbows. "I miss it," I say.

"Miss what?" she asks.

"Swimming," I continue to peer out at the ocean.

"I thought you didn't swim competitively.

"I did, it seems like a lifetime ago," I open up to her.

"How come you don't anymore?" she asks.

"My leg," I chuckle and she rolls her eyes. "And the fact that I can't take it to the next level, at least not with all the responsibilities I will have," I say and she scrunches her eyebrows again.

"What do you mean? I thought you were going to college," she says and I nod.

"Of course I am, but my grandfather is getting old and the older I get the more responsibility I will have. Once I'm 18, I have a larger stake in the company and with that, I will have people working under me. My grandfather is going to retire on my high school graduation. The company will be mine," I say nervously.

"But how are you going to handle school? Did he tell you he was going to retire?" she asks.

"Not exactly. He's just been breathing down my neck more and I know he's gotten sicker. I checked his medical records. He has to eliminate stress in his life and the company is about the biggest. That's why he's teaching me more, asking me more and also why I have no more spring or summer breaks. He takes me on business trips and gets me in contact with all his associates so that they can learn to trust me," I say.

"That's a lot of responsibility Em," she says. "How are you going to balance that with college?"

"I don't know. I mean I'll have Tyler as my assistant and a liaison who will be acting man in charge until I'm on breaks and everything will run through me I guess," I say really unsure of my future.

"That's just wow," she says and turns to look at the ocean.

"Yeah, but I'd rather have him healthy than sick while I'm trying to get through college," I say and she nods. I see her in my peripheral vision lean over towards me. I turn my head just in time for her lips to land on mine and all the tension melts from me. I lean forward to deep the kiss. My arm wraps around her back to pull her flush against me. I lay back and bring her on top of me while the kiss continuously heats up. We break apart for air and lean our heads against one another.

"Sex on a beach, really?" she smirks.

"Not as comfortable as you'd think," I say and she raises an eyebrow.

"I don't want to know about your sexual exploits. I just want to experience them on my own with you," she says seriously.

"Okay, no more mention of them," I say dragging her back down until our lips touched. My hands start to become anxious not knowing where to go. They travel from her back to her ass and I give it a squeeze and pull towards me and I hear her gasp in my mouth. I flip us over while being careful of my cast.

"Are you sure it's private?" she asks nervously.

"No one's coming here. The next neighbor isn't for miles," I respond and I see her relax.


	9. Desire

"It isn't as comfortable as I thought it would be," she laughed while pulling down her dress.

"I told you," I smirked buttoning up my shirt. "Come on we have to get back to the house".

"Is that what you call it? A house?" she deadpans with a smirk.

"Hmm, maybe estate is a better word," I laugh and kiss her on the cheek. We finally make it back to land where I'm able to hobble. I pull out my keys and hand them to her.

"What's that for?" she asks oblivious.

"I want you to drive," I say seriously.

"I-I don't know how to drive. I don't have a license," she looks down embarrassed.

"Really?" I ask shocked. "But you're 16".

"I had no one to teach me. My parents are too busy and my brother is too high to help," she says sadly.

"Once I get my cast removed, I'm teaching you," I promise her and she looks up and smiles at me. Once I'm settled in the car I sit back and look towards her. She still doesn't notice my staring until she realizes that we're not moving.

"Why aren't we moving?" she asks.

"You're so beautiful," I smile and brush hair away from her face to place it behind her ear. My thumb traces patterns over her cheek and I see a red tint take place of where I'm touching. "Why are you so nervous around me sometimes?" I ask and she pauses for a few moments.

"I don't know. I'm usually more confident and a force of nature, but around you, I stumble on my words, I second guess myself, I don't feel so confident," she says looking out the window.

"My job is to make you feel confident and beautiful and sexy and intelligent. What am I doing wrong?" I ask.

"It's what you're doing right. No one has ever made me feel this way," she says now burning holes into my eyes.

"How do I make you feel?" I ask.

"I feel a rush when I see the way you look at me. You make me feel uncertain yet sure, self-conscious but beautiful, you make me feel love like I never experienced it before and I don't want to let go," she says and her eyes start to water.

"You won't have to let go, you already have me in knots. I feel the same way about you and I'll be the first to admit that I'm scared, but I'm more intrigued by this than anything. You have a permanent place in my heart that no one has claim over," I say passionately before moving my hand to the back of her head and bringing her in for a deep kiss. It feels like it was only seconds before we're gasping for air, forehead against forehead, breathing the same air, black eyes against grey, like static electricity. Looking at her I feel the tension and sparks in the air and it's intoxicating. It's like a boy looking at his first fire. It intrigues you beyond imagination; it scares you because of its destruction, but amazes you because of its color and light. Alison sparked a fire within me and I don't want it to fizzle out. It magnifies my emotions, my perspective, and my life. I tear my eyes away and start the car before proceeding to the house. My grandfather always said, _don't put your hands against a flame unless you're ready to be burned_. With Alison I know that she could be my destruction, but if I get burned she'll be my medicine, my healer, she'll be the one to put together all my pieces and make me whole again. She holds so much power over me that I don't know if I can stop myself from walking straight into the fire. I know this path is dangerous, but if I look far enough, I can see a light there. The darkness may scare me in the beginning but the tresses in her voice is leading me to Garden of Eden, someplace magical that only we can go to.

Ever since our first night together I can't explain the things she does to me. She's provoked jealousy and breakthroughs, love spells and breakdowns. Have you ever met someone that you couldn't help but go towards even if there was a possibility that they could be the devil themselves? Did it feel as suffocating and all consuming as this? I can barely breathe around her and most of the time I don't want to if it means I can touch her arm, feel her soft hands graze mine, her golden locks brush against my cheek, her bottom lips trapped between my teeth eliciting a moan. I love when I kiss my way down her body and her stomach starts to sink in anticipation. I look over towards her and see her smile as her hand dances against the wind and she flashes me a smile that makes me want to stop the car and wrap her in my arms. I love the weight of her pressed against me, and when her orgasm hits her for the first time, it seems like she's on another plane, experiencing something that only I can give her. I love when she traps me between her thighs and draws blood on my back. The pain is welcome, not in a masochistic way, but to remind me that only I can bring her to such levels of high and only I'm the one that can bring her down. I never believed in love at first sight, but I do believe in fate and for some reason, she came to me at the right moment, when everything felt out of control in my life and she repaired me. I never thought about spending eternity with someone, but with Alison, it gives me hope that in the afterlife we'll meet again. She'll be moving gracefully towards me with an array of plants and flowers underneath her bare feet, the sun beaming against the left side of her face making her left eye sparkle brighter and her golden locks framing her face. She'd be dressed in a white dress that outlines her body and makes her skin glow. The nature around us makes her alluring and hard to ignore. I feel my heart beating out of my chest and welcome death if that is what it would look like. I've never had this before. I've never had a feeling that everything in life would turn out okay or that I would ever be truly happy, but with Alison, I now have hope. I have hope for a better future with her, a better life for our children where they can choose whatever they want to do in life, and hope that I will be happy no matter what obstacles come my way.

My mind rambles with thoughts of Alison. Is she my soul mate? Is she the love of my life? Why did I find her so soon? Did Allah send her to me? What will heaven look like with us up there? Only all these questions can be answered with time and now that Alison has come into my life, I feel like I have all the time in the world, not to waste, but to spend it with her.

"Are you okay Em?" she asks and I realize we're at my grandfather's home.

"Yeah, just thinking," I reply with a smile.

"About what?" she asks.

"The future," I say vaguely and kiss her before pressing the button for the garage to open. After the car is parked, we make our way inside the house where I coincidently run into my grandfather.

"Hey Emmy, have a good ride?" he asks with a smile.

"Yeah, it was enlightening," I smile back.

"So Alison is it?" he asks and she nods. "Want to take a walk with me," he says and Alison throws me a worried glance. I kiss her on the top of her head for reassurance.

"Just be yourself, if I love you, he will too," I whisper in her ear before throwing a glance at my grandfather to take it easy and he waves me off. He places his hand on her back before leading her in the opposite direction of my room. As I make my way to my office, I hear noises coming from inside. I open the door to reveal Tyler on the phone.

"Okay talk to you later," he says and hangs up with the person on the phone. "The meeting is set for 10 am tomorrow morning. Penelope dropped off your outfit for you to wear to tonight's gala in your room. You should actually start getting ready within an hour and a half because it starts at 8 and you know how your grandfather is with punctuality," he says and I nod before he leaves me alone. I sit down on my chair because my leg is throbbing. Soon my eyes start to get heavy and I drift into a peaceful nap. I wake up when I hear a knocking at the door.

"Come in," I say and Penelope appears.

"Ms. Buchanan, it's time for you to get ready, the gala starts in an hour," she says nervously.

"Thank you Penelope," I say looking at my watch noting that I did oversleep. I rush upstairs and bite my lip because my leg isn't feeling any better. I was pushing it today starting with the prayer where I sat in an uncomfortable position, to being on top in the sand having sex, and driving. Hopefully I can make it through tonight. I push through my room and go to take a quick shower. I brush my teeth before I start getting ready. It takes me a while to pull the pants fully up. Thankfully it's a black Armani suit, but I don't see a tie or handkerchief with it. I slip on the one shoe waiting for me before taking off. I stop at the top of the stairs and see everyone waiting. I'm rendered breathless at the sight of Alison in a maroon Valentino dress that is backless and hugs to her curves. The slit shoes off her tones legs and she's wearing red bottoms. My grandfather's stylist outdid himself.

"Ezra, help your sister down the stairs," my grandfather orders and Ezra rushes up the stairs and picks me up while I hold onto the crutches. Once we're off the last step my foot touches the ground and I place the crutches in a vertical position to balance myself.

"Thanks Ez," I say and he smiles before stalking off towards Aria while Alison comes towards me. "You look gorgeous," I say giving her a peck on the lips.

"Thank you handsome," she winks and my grandfather makes his way towards us.

"Before we go, you'll need these," he says before folding a maroon handkerchief and placing it in the pocket. He pulls out a maroon bowtie before placing it around my neck and tying it. "Much better," he observes while backing away and looking me up and down. "Now you can match your princess to this lovely event," he smiles; he's a sucker for romance and high society events.

"Thanks grandfather! So I take it you approve," I say motioning towards Alison.

"More than approve, I might just hand you down the family ring," he says happily and I beam. I could feel my whole aura lighten at his words.

"I'm impressed, no one has ever gotten him to say those words," I say to Alison.

"Okay, time to go people, you all look beautiful and dashing," my grandfather, says before leading the way to the cars. Now stands outside are my Porsche 918 Spyder, Ezra's grey Mercedes G63 AMG, a black Rolls Royce Phantom, a white Maybach, a black Mercedes CLS- Coupe, a blue Lexus LFA, a silver Corvette, and a cherry red BMW Z4. "Guys choose whichever car you want to drive, I gave the staff the night off because I know how much you love to drive fast cars. The address is already plugged into your navigation, so no need to follow me," he said before his driver opened his door to the Rolls Royce. Alison and I made our way over to my Porsche, Ezra opened the door for Aria to his Mercedes, Caleb chose the Lexus LFA, and of course Toby would choose the American muscle car, the silver Corvette. After we're settled in our cars, Alison looks towards me.

"How are we going to get there?" she asks.

"I'm driving," I say cheekily and she punches my shoulder. "Hey I would advise you not to abuse or cripple your driving instructor," I laugh while she kisses my cheek.

"Sorry baby," she says and straps on her seatbelt. I am the first to pull out of the area and drive down towards the gate. The wind blows sharply against our faces, but I love the smell of the trees and the darkness surrounding us. I flip on my lights to brighten the pathway and I notice in my rearview mirror that Caleb is right behind, followed by Toby then Ezra. My hand rests on the armrest and I feel her locks against my cheek before I can see her. I feel her hands on my zipper.

"What are you doing?" I ask and I see a mischievous smirk plastered on her face.

"Haven't you ever wanted to come while the cool wind is blowing against you in the middle of the night," she whispers in my ear seductively and any attempts to stop her hands from moving down my boxers are erased.

"I have to focus on driving," I say.

"Well then pay attention. I'm sure the great Emily Fields can multitask," she says whispers and licks my earlobe that makes me release a hearty moan because I know that we're practically alone and no one can hear us against the sound of cars. She unbuttons and unzips my pants to give her better access. Her hand dips down my boxers and I feel her fingers teasing me by lightly brushing against the top of my waistband. They travel further until I feel a finger separating my folds and I have to squint my eyes because it feels good. Her face is still pressed against my cheek and her hair tickles my neck.

"You're mine," she says in my ear before putting pressure on my clit that makes me press the gas a little hard and takes my speed up to 70. "Slow down," she says softly and I take my foot off the gas. My breathing is starting to increase and so does the pressure of her fingers. They're so soft and the wind is so sharp and cool. She dips down onto my lap surprising me and I jump slightly when I feel her pull my boxers down a little and her tongue comes into contact with my clit.

"Oh God Ali," I say breathless and slightly lean forward on the wheel.

"Eyes on the road or I stop," she says loud enough for me to hear so I pick my head back up and concentrate. I feel her licking harder as her fingers begin to tease my entrance.

"Please Ali," I say louder than I intended.

"That's what I want, I want for you to scream," she smiles against me and the vibrations of her voice make me wetter. She pushes two fingers inside me and I fight my reflexes to keep my eyes open. I love the feeling of her inside me, she sucks on my clit and pushes harder into me and I jerk forward. She pumps in and out of me a few more times before moving her lips to my neck and sucking.

"Say it, say you're mine," she commands.

"I…I…" I say incoherently not able to form a proper sentence.

"Say it," she adds a third finger and presses her thumb against my clit.

"Oh God, I'm yours Ali," I say with my breathing out of control and she miraculously finds my pulse point on my right side which feels so much better than my left. "Mhmmm," I moan when I feel her fingers curl inside me. "So good," I say my hips now trying to move against her hand. I feel my stomach coiling and tightening, but I don't want to let go yet. I love her in control and inside me and I want it to last forever.

"Come on Em, let go," she says but I shake my head. "Let go for me," she whispers in my ear and I shake my head again. She does something magical with her fingers when they hit a spot that I never knew existed and suddenly I can't control the orgasm that overtakes me. I press on the gas as I'm taken into a euphoric state with the trees passing by and the smell of nature invading my nose, but I can still smell her scent of oranges.

"ALISON!" I scream hoping no one would hear because it sounded like someone was killing me, and she was. That would've been the sweetest death anyone could die. The heat that is radiating off of me is now being fought by the coolness that batters my olive skin as she peppers kisses all over my face and takes her hands out of my pants. She pulls her fingers into her mouth and my jaw almost touches the floor at the sight.

"Mhmm, you taste so sweet," she smiles. "My sweet Emmy". She leans in for a kiss and I taste myself on her while I still focus on the road. I hear a horn behind me telling us to concentrate and she pulls away. She pulls my boxers back up, buttons up my pants, and buckles my belt before she sits back in her seat and rests her head against it while staring at me.

"I don't know what to say," I say in shock because that was the hottest thing I've ever seen.

"Let's just say that you'll repay the favor tonight and we can cross it off our list," she smiles.

"What list?" I ask confused.

"Our sex list of places and positions we want to try," she says as if we've already talked about this.

"Oh what have I created," I smile excitedly.

"A sex monster, you've awoken the beast," she says and we both laugh.

"I need to see this list ASAP," I grin.

"Oh no you won't that's for me to know and for you to find out, just be ready," she says.

"Dear God, you're going to be the death of me," I say jokingly but serious. This girl is like anyone or anything I've ever met.

"Just know that it'll be the sweetest death imaginable," she retorts and smiles brightly before we fall into a comfortable silence as my body returns to a normal temperature under the cool air.


	10. Gala Pt 1

The rest of the drive was spent in silence as the tires rolled along the pavement. We pulled into the Harbor Club at Prime, which is usually an hour and a half drive from East Hampton, but with the lack of traffic and our accelerated speed, we made it with a half hour to spare. We arrived at 7:30 and the sun is still setting creating an array of reds, blues, pinks and purples across the sky. The valet comes up to open my door so I pass him my crutches and he helps me out of the car.

"Thank you," I say politely and he nods while I pass him the key as another valet opens the door for Alison. We wait for the others to exit their car before walking inside the venue.

"Hello, may we show you to your table?" a man asks politely as he approaches us.

"Yes please," I respond and I hobble behind him. He opens the door to a large space filled with tables topped with white begonia flowers in the center and candles surrounding them. Each table has 8 to 10 plates with name cards. I suppose the man already knew who we were, that must've been his job to memorize seating charts and wealthy families. He leads us to a table almost in the center of the room and we all sit down to take our seats.

"May I get you anything to drink?" he asks and we all nod.

"Sprite for us," Caleb says a motioning for him and Hanna.

"Water with Lemon," Toby answers for him and Spencer.

"I'll take a Sprite, and my lady will have Sparkling water," he says confidently.

"Ginger ale," Alison answers.

"We'll both have Benziger 2008 Merlot," my grandfather orders for us.

"Right away," he says and stalks off.

"Emily this event is really important, I need you at your best," my grandfather says.

"As good as Marissa Bisset?" I ask.

"Better, much better. That was child's play, this is serious business," he says and his lips form in a line.

"Grandfather calm down, just tell me who to talk to and I will work my magic," I say.

"You'll need a lot more than bunny rabbits popping out of hats," he says.

"Grandfather relax, we won't get anywhere with you stressing. I'm learning the ropes, but you need to trust me enough to let me experience and work my way through things," I reason and he nods.

"You're right, I just really need these deals or this new project won't work," he replies.

"Whom do I talk to?" I ask again.

"Chandler Matthews. He's really young, 22, the song of

"Robert Matthews, he's into the entertainment industry," I finish. "What do we need from him?" I ask.

"He's on the move to looking into stocks and business ventures. We need to convince him to let us manage his money. He's the easiest out of the bunch," he says.

"Who else?" I ask.

"Katherine Porter, she just came across a lump some of money after her husband died last year and has no clue what to do with it. She's a socialite and has been blowing her money fast," he says and I nod thinking of ways to approach her. "Next is Sebastian Kane," he says and I gasp, catching the attention of the rest of the table.

"You expect me to sweet talk Sebastian Kane? The Sebastian Kane?" I ask in shock.

"Not sweet talk, he hates bullshitting, just be honest and straightforward," he says.

"But he has his own team of financial assets," I reason.

"Remember the numbers you ran for me a few weeks ago where you noticed a large sum taken away?" he asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, like 2 million went missing," I recall.

"Well that was his financials," he says.

"How did we manage to get our hands on those?" I ask.

"We may have a spy or two in their company," my grandfather says and we both smile.

"Okay so should I approach him with my findings?" I ask.

"Only if he doesn't respond to everything else, that's your last resort," I say.

"Okay," I say and think about my ways to attack their weaknesses.

"Okay?" he asks again.

"Yes I can handle this, I just need time to think," I say and Alison squeezes my hand so I look at her on my left. "Hey sorry this isn't really fun," I say with a pout.

"It's okay, I knew this was a business function," she says and I hear a hint of sadness so I decide to take her away to at least enjoy part of the evening.

"We'll be right back grandfather, I'm taking her to the docks," I say and he nods happily as the drinks are being set on the table. We pass a few tables and see serves carrying glasses filled with champagne so we take I tell Alison to grab two. After leading her back towards the door I hold the crutch under my arm as I open the door that leads to the terrace and we come across the docks a little further away.

"Where are you taking me?" she asks.

"To the docks," I answer and it takes us five minutes before we're sitting on the cool wood, surrounded by boats and we can hear the chatter of the party as it begins. After I rest my crutches beside me I take the champagne glass from her. We sit in silence as I try to think of what to say.

"I'm sorry this couldn't be more fun," I say.

"Don't worry about it," she says but I know that she's taking it to heart.

"How about we go somewhere for Spring Break," I suggest.

"What?" she asks taken aback and her eyes widen.

"Anywhere in the world, where do you want to go?" I ask.

"Uh, I don't know what to say," she says in shock.

"I figured we could use a vacation without me having to worry about business," I say.

"Wow," she says breathless. "What about working with your grandfather?" she asks nervously

"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine," I say nonchalantly.

"I'm serious Em, I don't want him to hate me for taking up your time," she says seriously.

"He won't he loves you. Besides if he thinks what I know he will, he'll be totally fine with it," I say.

"Are you sure?" she asks again.

"So where would you like to go?" I ask answering her question.

"France," she says after a few moments and I smile.

"Vous souhaitez que je vous commande," (Your wish is my command) I say and she smiles brighter. The way the edges of her lips crinkles make a smile appear on my face.

"Est-ce que je reçois trois souhaits?" she asks. (Do I get three wishes?)

"Oui mademoiselle DiLaurentis," I say.

"Je souhaite que vous pourriez prendre cette robe sur moi," (I wish you could take this dress off me), she says and my cheeks flush and my body temperature rises.

"Ce soir, vous allez vouloir vous l'avez conservé sur," (Tonight you're going to wish you left it on), I wink and now it's her time to blush furiously. I decide to take it easy on her and lean to kiss her on the cheek. I pull away and down the rest of my drink. I wish we could stay here all day, partially because my leg is throbbing and mostly because I love the view and Alison's company.

"It's really beautiful here," she's observing the sky meeting the water.

"No more beautiful than the sight beside me," I say never taking my eyes off of her.

"You're so sappy," she laughs and pushes me.

"What can I say Ms. DiLaurentis, you make this way," I reason and at that point we hear a collection of laughs. "We should probably head back inside". We both stand and make our way back inside. I see that majority of the place is filled and everyone is sitting down wrapped in their own conversations as we make our way to the table.

"What's been going on?" I hear Alison ask the rest of the group.

"Just talking while you two make out like teenagers," Caleb says and we both blush while the others laugh.

"Even though it isn't your business, we actually weren't making out. We can have conversations uninterrupted by hormones," I retort.

"Well actually that conversation was about the not so innocent things we're going to be doing tonight," Alison says in a trance not knowing she said it out loud.

"Alison!" I scold her while the others burst out in a hearty laugh.

"That's my Emmy," my grandfather pats me on the back and most would think it would be a good gesture but I only feel my cheeks redden at the thought of everyone knowing my business.

"I bet they did it in the car!" Hanna exclaimed and we both turned a deep shade of red.

"Oh my God! You guys totally did it!" Toby said a little loudly.

"Guys keep your voices down! My-our sex life is not up for discussion," I say adamantly.

"Em's always like this, she may come off as cocky and confident but she's a total prude when it comes to talking about sex," Ezra finally speaks up.

"Shut it Ez," I try to pull off a serious tone and a silence follows before we all start chuckling even my grandfather.

"With the way you two go at it I hope to see grandchildren within the next few years. I need another heir to groom," he jokes but Ezra and my eyes meet and we know that there's seriousness laced in there. Grandfather is serious about maintaining the familial line both biological and non-biological, so whether I want to or not, I will be having children. I don't mind them per se, but the thought of all that pain is unimaginable. I know it's uncomfortable for Ezra since he's adopted, but grandfather still wants him to produce grandchildren to spoil endlessly and have someone to cater to in his retirement besides his wife. Since I'm used to this conversation it does nothing to physical faze me, but I hear Alison choking.

"Are you okay Ali?" I ask and she's still coughing.

"Wrong pipe," she chokes out and I feel sorry for her. It's her first of many baby talks and my grandfather already promised her the family ring. We've only just started dating!

"Grandfather!" I scold and he rolls his eyes and returns to nursing his drink and muttering things under his breath. I am so focused on Alison that I didn't notice waiters until they were placing plates on the table. It's a Caesar salad and they start asking what we want for the entrée.

"I'll go with filet mignon," I respond.

"I'll go with the salmon," Alison says.

"How would you like your meat?" he asks.

"Blue rare," I say and all the entire table stops talking to stare at me even the waiter.

"I'm just joking, I'll take it medium rare," I say and he jokingly wipes sweat from his head.

"I thought I would have to go get your stomach pumped if you like your steak blue rare," Alison joked.

"Haha very funny," I joke. After thirty minutes of mindless conversation and eating the salad, we're served our meals. I look Alison's plate to see an Atlantic salmon with shitake mushrooms and a truffle jus. "That looks delicious," I say as my plate is being placed in front of me. It's a 12-ounce center cut of filet mignon with scalloped potatoes au gratin and seasonal vegetables.

"Now that looks really good," she says and our mouths salivate at each other's meals and pretty soon we're exchanging plates after taking a bite into our own. After I bring the salmon to my lips I let out a moan.

"You knew exactly what to order for me babe," I smirk at her.

"This would do well with some red wine," she suggests and she takes my untouched Merlot. "Mhmm just perfect with my medium rare filet mignon," she says and the sounds coming from her mouth makes my mouth water not from the seductive looks she's giving me but thoughts of what I want to do to her later on. This is not social; you have to focus on the task at hand Em! How should I approach them? What are their weaknesses? I should ask grandfather. NO! He'll think you're not ready and why give him more ammo? Be confident, cool and collected. Do your own research. You have the Internet and Google; hell you even have your own assistant. Tyler!

Me: Tyler look up these three people and tell me everything about them.

Tyler: What are they?

Me: Chandler Matthews, Katherine Porter, and Sebastian Kane.

Tyler: On it right away!

Me: I need info in the next half hour.

I send the text but receive no response, which I'm hoping is a good sign that he's working on it. For now I want to enjoy my time with my family and friends.


	11. Gala Pt 2

**Sorry for the huge delay guys. I have missed writing. It started out as writer's block and manifested into procrastination and adjusting back to college. I'm back! My updates won't be as they were, but I promise to write one chapter a weekend for all of my stories if I have to time, so yes you get this treat as an apology and starting Saturdays you'll receive regular weekend updates so please make time in your schedule to read and review. I LOVE REVIEWS! Enjoy and let me know what you think I should improve on and what you like.**

My rapid thoughts are interrupted by a buzzing sound coming from my phone. I take it out of my pocket to see that it's Tyler calling.

"Excuse me, I have to take this," I say to everyone and I was about to get up when I realize that I'm on crutches so I look to grandfather for approval that I can use my phone at the table. "Hey Tyler," I say.

"Hey Emily, I have the information you seek," he says and I can detect a smile in his voice.

"What is it?" I ask anxiously.

"Chandler, 22, graduate of Stanford University, his father is in the entertainment industry," he says

"I know all of this," I say.

"But what you didn't know is that his father's company is tanking and his inheritance comes from his maternal grandparents. His mother died when he was four. Spent sometime in rehab a three years ago for pain pills," he pauses and I gasp at my attack point; common ground.

"What about Katherine," I say but am cut off.

"Porter, yes socialite, inherited her money from her husband after he died of natural causes…at the age of 65," he says and we both pause at that peculiar piece of information. "Anyways, his money was from a software company called Global Connect, international billion dollar, Fortune 500 Company. Over the last few months after her husband has died, she's been making trips to Turkey. There's news articles of her coming out of mosques," he says.

"Good I think I know of a way to get to her," I say more confident of my chances. "What about Sebastian?" I ask.

"That's a tough one, he doesn't really go out or socialize except when its charities. It's fitting since he's one of the most successful government contract security firms. They have connections all over the world. From the information I gathered, his men have done ops ranging from the Middle East to the coastal islands. I can't find any dirt on him," he says with a sigh and I have to take a breath to calm down.

"It's okay, thanks for the other stuff, I'll figure it out," I say with uncertainty.

"I'm sorry Em," he says.

'Don't worry, you did great," I say and hang up.

"You okay babe?" Alison asks and I plaster on a fake smile that I can see her eyes boring through.

"Yeah just need time to think," I say only to be cut off by the host. I drown him out and think of ways to attack Kane. I know those other two don't matter if we don't have him. His connections to the government would be a great opening to high-level officials in need of financial advice and management. I could practically feel my stress levels rise and I start to imagine Alison and I on the top of the Eiffel Tower with the wind blowing in between her golden locks. The curve of her lips look back at me.

"So please don't be shy with your wallets," the host says as an exiting piece and I manage to stop myself from rolling my eyes at the unoriginality of that statement. I feel my grandfather poke my arm and my head snaps to him. I follow his line of sight to the bar where Sebastian is standing viewing the crowd. He looks so ordinary, like he can fit in anywhere, like an average person, but that's what they teach you how to do at the CIA. Who would ever guess that he's one of the richest and most connected person at this event?

"Do your best. Be smart, straight forward and don't hold any punches," grandfather gives as last minute advice. I stand on my crutches and make my way towards him.

"Boring right?" I ask trying to make conversation light and he ignores me. "I'm Emily," I say but he cuts me off, speaking for the first time.

"I know who you are. I never go to an event without doing my research on every single guest," he says without looking me in the eye. I'm beginning to wonder if this was a mistake. He's around 6 feet tall, average build, but his tone and aura gives off a dark energy. Not terrifying, but intimidating. "I don't want whatever it is you're selling".

"I'm not selling anything," I say and he scoffs. "I came to make a proposition".

"I'm not interested," he says.

"My grandfather is starting a new branch for money management and we want to manage your funds," I say confidently.

"You're going to need to try harder if you want to touch my money, besides I have my own team who does that," he says.

"And if you had a team you could actually trust, you wouldn't be missing two million dollars every month," I say and he looks at me for the first time with wide eyes.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he says.

"I think I do. I have copies of your financials and I ran the numbers for six months and each month you've been ripped off for two million. The reason it doesn't cause a red flag is because you bring in over 10 times that amount a month," I say and pull out the documents.

"How did you get your hands on this?" he asks.

"That's not important. What's important is knowing who you can trust," I say.

"And how do I know I can trust you?" he asks.

"Because I know how important government contractors are. You could lose business if this were to leak. By letting us manage you funds we promise to grow it by at least 5% each year. If you need anything you ask. To look at your financial statements would be a simple phone call. Everything is discreet and confidential and we will cater to you essentially. We could also take about other business ventures with stocks and everything which is our specialty," I say giving him the whole run down.

"I don't know," he says wearily which I expected.

"I know you don't trust especially after this. So just give it some thought and call me," I say putting my business card on the bar. "It was a pleasure meeting you and I hope to hear from you," I say and we shake hands before turning around on my crutches and looking for my next target. It takes a few minutes of scanning the room before it rests on a red headed middle-aged woman in a dark burgundy dress that flows to her ankles. She has a slim frame and it is accentuated by the dress hugging the small curvature of her hips. She isolated herself from most of the guests as she sits at a table near the wall and a few steps from the door. She stands and walks towards the door only for me to follow behind on my crutches. I see her on the patio watching the water.

"It's calming," she's the first to speak when I step onto the patio.

"Indeed, I just needed fresh air to breath," she turns around and I put on a charming smile.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a beautiful smile?" she asks and I'm taken aback by her forward nature and a hint of flirtation, but I take it in stride.

"Has anyone ever told you that your dress leaves everything to the imagination," I counter.

"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted," she says.

"It was only meant one way," I wink and she blushes almost the same shade of her hair.

"So tell me the real reason you're out here," she says.

"Why can't it just be to talk to a beautiful woman?" I ask.

"Because you've been over a particular blonde all night that happens to be less than half my age," she says.

"Age is nothing but a number, but you're right I do have a girlfriend. I came here to talk about a proposition," I say and she chuckles and I realize how that didn't come out as expected. "No nothing like that. My grandfather is building a management sector of his company and we've had an interest in you. We want to manage and grow your money," I say.

"What's in it for me? I can manage my money by myself," she says now looking towards the water.

"From what I saw, you've been blowing through it, and the investments you have been involved in have all flopped. I give you about 5 years to be completely broke or bankrupt. But with the help of us, we can triple your money by that time," I say confidently.

"Why so confident?" she asks.

"Genetics, and I know what I'm doing," I smile.

"You're in high school," she clarifies.

"I realize that I'm prepping to take the SATs, but I've been groomed for this job, I'm excellent with numbers. I even have my own client, I think you've heard of her, Marissa Bisset," I say smirking internally because I know that they are close friends.

"Yes, very well. She's you're client? Since when?" she asks.

"Well we've talked and she's signing documents, so unofficially, yesterday, and officially, tomorrow. You should speak with her. She specifically requested me over a few of highly trained professionals within this division," I say.

"I'm sure it also had something to do with that charming smile and the big doe eyes," she smirks.

"Hmmm, possibly," I say and put the charm on ten fold.

"Okay. I'll call my men to get started and we'll talk more. Are you free tomorrow?" she asks.

"I'm meeting with Ms. Bisset in the morning, so we can meet afterwards if you prefer. Are you saying yes?" I ask.

"Yes…I'm saying yes, but if I feel like you're not managing it correctly or if I notice funds missing, I will ruin your career and your grandfather's company," she says.

"Noted. I'll have all the documents written up for you," I say and a waiter comes out and I take a glass of champagne off the tray, as does she. "To a new business venture," I say and we clink glasses. After we're done we exchange contact information and she bids her goodbye. I walk back towards the table to see grandfather waiting expectantly.

"How did it go?" he asks.

"I haven't run into Chandler yet, I'm expecting a call from Mr. Kane sometime this week after he confirms the missing money, and Ms. Porter is going to sign all the documents giving us access to her funds and records tomorrow along with Ms. Bisset," I say and he nods.

"Good work," he says and I return my attention to Alison.

"Hey beautiful," I say and she comes out of thought. "Penny for your thoughts?" I ask.

"Is this how it's going to be like at every event and function?" she asks.

"Practically. Grandfather is testing my abilities. Once I prove that I'm a worthy asset and that I can handle things on my own, I won't have to do so many of these and they'll be much more fun. Speaking of fun, I would ask you to dance, but I don't think you want my two left feet along with crutches to step on your toes," I say and it brings a smile out of her. How I've missed that smile would be an understatement. I never thought I'd love someone more than I love my work. Don't get me wrong, money, business, micromanagement, and sales is great, but it's not something that will keep me warm at night. It's not something that will ask me how my day was, or that I can talk to animatedly about random things, whom I can caress and elicit moans and other sounds in the throes of passion. Love has always been a peculiar thing especially when I was involved with Johanna, but now it's just down right evil. It's consuming most of my time through my thoughts, dreams, talking. I wonder if Alison feels this way. I never imagined I'd like the feeling of being trapped, but the thought of being wrapped in her spell is a drug, and we all know too well that drugs are an addiction for me, a habit that will never go away no matter how many years I'm clean. It'll always be apart of me, in my skin, my heart, my lungs, my brain, my hands; all the places that Alison touches both figuratively and literally.


End file.
